Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

There has never been a Bill subject to so much misconception, misdescription, misdiagnosis and, I am reluctant to say, deliberate distortion. I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on it and I probably have as good a legal view on it as anybody else.

The subject of the Bill first raised its head in respect of Actors Equity and, more recently, the Irish Pharmaceutical Union. It has now arisen in respect of other organisations and it seems to be the accepted wisdom in the HSE and other bodies that the Government can no longer negotiate fees and prices for representative bodies delivering services on behalf of the State. This is ludicrous. The Labour Party believes discussions and negations on fees and prices between representative bodies such as the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, the Irish Medical Organisation, the Irish Dental Association and others should be allowed so the Government can deliver services in an organised and efficient manner that is surely in the public interest. The Minister of State has deliberately omitted to refer to section 3 because it does not suit his purposes. My argument does not in any way imply that we do not believe we should not strive to obtain value for money. We have been arguing with the Government for value for money for a long time and certainly have not achieved it. It must be achieved through partnership with stakeholders.

As the party's spokesperson on enterprise and employment, I would like to address a few issues related to the Competition Act, which I have studied carefully. In this regard, let us consider the market we are talking about. As I understand it, under the medical card scheme, medicines are delivered free of charge to patients, and pharmacists are then reimbursed by the State through the HSE. The prices for the medicines are agreed between producers, distributors of the medicines, pharmacists and the State in negotiations. For people who are not entitled to obtain a medical card, medicines supplied to a value in excess of €90 per month are supplied free of charge to the patient. The pharmacist is again reimbursed by the State through the HSE. Where is the price fixing and who is the price fixer? Why is the Competition Authority not investigating the entity that fixed the price?

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