Costs associated with failed sale of Bord Gáis unknown

Energy Minister Pat Rabbitte has said he does not yet know the cost of deferring the sale of the energy business of Bord Gáis.

The coalition decided last week not to go ahead with the state asset sale after the offers were far less than the €1.5bn sale price hoped for.

Minister Rabbitte this morning told the Dáil he does not know yet the total cost of consultants and other work.

"I can't yet answer that... because we don't yet know the position with regard to fees," he said.

"But there were individual contracts following a competitive tendering process and so on - and indeed some of it was on a no-fold-no-fee basis," he added.