Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State has indicated that 30% of the reports issued by the Competition Authority are under active consideration. I hope that is not a euphemism for their being allowed to gather dust. The Government is standing idly by on many issues relating to the authority. I cannot understand how an amendment which seeks to formalise the response from the Government to reports from the authority could in any way weaken either the relationship or the engagement between these two entities. Best practice throughout Europe dictates that the relationship to which I refer should be quite a bit closer than that outlined in the amendment. For example, the competition authority in Italy has the ability to table legislation for consideration. The authority here is far weaker. The amendment would actually strengthen the formalised relationship between the Government and the authority.

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