Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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There is a strong feeling, with regard to Irish society and enterprise, that competition problems are a significant element of the higher prices experienced in Ireland compared with other countries. This is seen throughout the pharmaceutical and the cement industries and also in the beef industry. Obviously this is a key competition challenge for the State, so any investment that is made in ensuring that there is proper competition and that market structures work properly has a massive effect on the competitiveness of the country. As has been said, the beef industry strikes me as an example of a market structure that is an oligopoly.

As such, it does not allow for strong competition between producers. It would be an ideal space for the Government to ensure there was a more competitive element to pricing and that the price experienced by suppliers was relevant to the output they - farmers themselves - were producing . It is also an issue for the cement industry in which typically we have more expensive cement than elsewhere. One reason we were told the Competition Authority could not focus on this issue in the past was resources. The authority has a very small resources element and I encourage the Minister to make a real blow to the competitive advantage of all these sectors by making sure the authority is properly resourced.