Mr. Brian Hanley:

Yes. It requires additional resources. As I understand it, it is part of the competence of a number of capable civil servants but it is only a small aspect of their role. If competition is the silver bullet to really try to drive down premiums, then it should be treated as such. It should be properly resourced and there should be additional resources. The new action plan makes positive mention of various initiatives that could help, and maybe the involvement of other State bodies, to drive up competition. We suffer from a poor reputation. It will take longer to shift that than it took to bring in some of the reforms. There needs to be a dedicated singular focus. We need to see some kind of clear outputs from that office. If everyone says that competition will be one of the keys - if not the key - to reducing premiums, then we need to move heaven and earth to resource it properly. Additional resources are absolutely required. At present, it just forms a constituent element of the role of a number of officials. It needs additional resources so that it can be more focused.