Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

Does the Tánaiste agree it is disappointing that, after seven years in office, she has discovered she needs a new consumer policy because she has none? Why has it taken her seven years to discover that people were being overcharged and ripped off, that prices were going out of control and that household incomes were being challenged on that basis?

Were it not for the pressure being applied by consumer groups and Fine Gael, through the establishment of its own website, to highlight these issues, the Tánaiste would have continued ad infinitum without discovering she needs new consultation with various groups to devise a consumer policy. It is an important area which has been neglected by the Tánaiste over that period. After seven years in office, the Tánaiste should feed in her own proposals rather than have another advisory group make recommendations to her about issues she should know about anyway.

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