Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)

What we are trying to do is a good idea, but no matter how well we build this vehicle, there is not much point to it without the resources. For instance, car manufacturers build fantastic cars and much effort is put into getting everything right but if one has no money for fuel there is not much point in having a decent car. Is the Minister of State aware of the litany of problems experienced by the Competition Authority with regard to funding? No matter what we do here today, unless the authority is funded adequately, there is not much point.

I refer to a statement in 2000 by the director of competition enforcement, Mr. Patrick Massey. He resigned from his position and he stated his conviction that it was no longer possible for him to continue as director of competition enforcement due to the failure to provide adequate resources to enable him to do the job properly. In April 2001, an OECD report on regulation in Ireland declared that strengths in competition laws and institutions had been compromised by a lack of resources, unclear independence and inconsistent leadership. In 2004, Dr. John Fingleton, head of the Competition Authority, informed the Committee of Public Accounts that anti-competitive practices were costing the Irish economy approximately €4 billion annually - which we are now paying back - yet successive governments have starved the Competition Authority of funds and staff necessary for it to carry out its statutory duty. On 7 October 2010, the Competition Authority chairman, Mr. Declan Purcell, said that the authority's ability to carry out its statutory and other functions is seriously and regrettably compromised. He also said that he believed some facts need to be recognised and acknowledged.

With the current level of resources and which it can expect to continue to have - although I hope the Minister of State will change this situation - this is his assessment of what it is realistic to expect of the Competition Authority. He said that the authority is no longer in a position to investigate and assist the Director of Public Prosecutions in the prosecution of criminal cartels to the extent it has done in the past and that the authority would be doing well if it can conclude one major investigation in the non-criminal enforcement end of business per year. As regards merger reviews, he stated that this is an area where the authority has no choice but to respond within statutory deadlines but that it will do so probably by redeploying staff from enforcement work. As regards competition advocacy, he said the authority was not now in a position to carry out market studies and will have to focus its resources on other less intensive forms of advocacy. He also stated that the Competition Authority will probably have to suspend a number of enforcement investigations.

We get this perfect here, no more than the Germans get the Volkswagen perfect and they put plenty of effort into it. However, if one has no petrol to put into the car, what use is it, even if the car is perfect. A sevenfold increase in resources is required to be given to the Competition Authority. Currently there are two gardaí working with the authority and this number is grossly inadequate considering that in one year it is estimated to have cost €4 billion. This could be likened to having only two gardaí patrolling the streets of Dublin, considering the epidemic in white-collar crime.

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