Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I was in the process of listing them. One is that anybody doing business with them would be fearful that their data, bids and interactions with them would come into the public sphere, so they would be disadvantaged on that front. Their own cost base and internal structures would be disadvantaged. One can think of all of the issues that could be subject to freedom of information requests that would be of advantage to a competitor if they were known. One is either in favour of having a commercial company owned by the State competing on a level playing field with a private-sphere company or one is not, but I do not agree with the notion of half-spancelling such a body because one feels that, as it is State-owned, a unique set of freedom of information responsibilities should fall upon it, which would clearly have a commercial impact because it would kill off the semi-state sphere. Perhaps this is the Deputy's view, but it is not mine.