Mr. Seamus Maye:

The International Small Business Alliance concentrates on fairness in trade between SMEs and larger multinationals. We have been involved in leading competition law cases in several countries and campaigned actively with DG Competition in Brussels in the past 20 or so years. We have campaigned actively in Ireland with the various political parties on the issue of competition reform. In this country we have had a competition law regime in place since 1991, but it has been an utter failure. It does not work. We could talk about the insurance sector or any other until the cows came home, but we do not have the tools to investigate to see what is happening. In the United Kingdom there is a competition Act which is virtually the same as the Irish Act, but there is also in place the Enterprise Act 2002 which gives the Competition and Markets Authority the power to follow in-depth market analysis procedures. It also gives it sweeping powers of reform. We simply have not got to the start of the process here. In Britain under the Enterprises Act the Competition and Markets Authority can go into any sector to examine where the money is being spent, where the profits are goings and who is benefiting. It can then make orders and state something has to stop.