Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask a supplementary question on that point. Mr. Quinn referred to SMEs but it might be beyond many micro businesses that service Munster, for example, to tender elsewhere because they do not have the distribution networks and personnel to bid for the national supply of education material, etc. How effective has the regionalisation of the market been? We must be unapologetic in our structuring. We must get prices, but we can also be creative so as to tilt the pitch more in favour of indigenous companies. Micro and small businesses in particular could remain in service provision if the country was carved up in a way that suited them. This cannot be done if prices are exorbitant, but many businesses with long-established records of regional service provision are finding that they cannot compete nationally because of scale.