Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

If prices have gone up, services have not improved. Again and again, the special interests of providers have triumphed. Whether it is hospital consultants or concrete block manufacturers, their special interests come before those of the consumer.

The partnership talks involving the trade unions and business interests, which are all in bed with the Government, have decided how the State will be run for the next several years. The only party not at the negotiating table was the consumer, yet decisions that will have a major impact were made in those talks. The Government purported to be acting in the consumers' interests but decisions were made that were anti-consumer. For example, a deal was done preventing driving test instructors being employed, even though 400 people are killed on our roads each year. A benchmarking deal was struck to improve efficiencies and provide better services from the public service but none were delivered. It was an exercise in name only.

In the transport area, special interests have stymied necessary reforms and inhibited the development of a comprehensive integrated public transport system. I am surprised we have not yet had a commuter revolution. Commuters' interests have not been served by the Government or any of the transport agencies purporting to act for them. No extra buses, integrated ticketing or competing terminals have been provided. The dominant provider won at the expense of the consumer.

In the dying days of the Government, the Bill is a disappointment since so much was expected of it. It is too timid, a pale imitation of what is needed. It fails to galvanise the action needed for a clean sweep and change in culture of not rocking the boat or stepping on people's toes. It ensures there will be no risk of change and avoids the notion that the Government and providers have colluded. Providers across the board, particularly in the State sector, have colluded with the Government. Knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly, they have acted to the consumer's detriment. This Bill does not go far enough in changing that culture.

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