Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 2 March 2021
Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach
Estimates for Public Services 2021
Vote 11 - Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform (Revised)
Vote 12 - Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised)
Vote 14 - State Laboratory (Revised)
Vote 15 - Secret Service (Revised)
Vote 17 - Public Appointments Service (Revised)
Vote 18 - National Shared Services Office (Revised)
Vote 19 - Office of the Ombudsman (Revised)
Vote 39 - Office of Government Procurement (Revised)
Vote 43 - Office of the Chief Government Information Officer (Revised)
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source
I understand the two pillar banks account for roughly 80% of the Irish banking market but I am open to correction. The alternatives the Minister mentioned are very small in comparison. When analysing our particular market it is still very clearly a duopoly, which is the opposite of what we need as a State. Perhaps the Minister did so by accident but giving the pretence that there is functioning competition within the Irish market is unhelpful. There most certainly is not proper competition within the Irish market. That is at the heart of the problems that have manifested themselves in provincial towns right across Ireland.
I am a big fan of regulation and believe it is necessary but we have cyclical regulation. This means regulation is applied when a particular market is in trouble but is then reduced when that market starts to burgeon. We need countercyclical regulation. Regulation must be in place when needed.
On procurement, where are the ventilators that were discussed earlier? How much does it cost the State to store them? What is planned for them in the future?
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