Mr. Stephen Lynam:

I wish to reply to Deputy Ó Cuív's question about fear. The Competition Authority can itself act on any reports it receives of unfair or illegal practices. It has also raised the point by stating "It is not clear why it is thought that the attitude of suppliers towards making complaints would change if a code of practice was introduced." I have yet to hear how any code of practice would deal with that problem. What would deal with that problem is the provision within our EU voluntary code on anonymous complaints. I am happy to provide that information to the committee. The introduction of a code of practice would not solve that problem. Small suppliers or small retailers could still believe that the dominant supplier or retailer is abusing its position and a code of practice would not address that issue. I think our voluntary approach at EU level would do so.