Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I can give the Minister of State a rough idea and although we do not have all the answers we have managed to find some of them. There have been 11 such reports to date, excluding those made last year which, in fairness, we do not expect to be implemented at this stage. Going back to 1998, one out of four recommendations in the report on liquor licensing was adopted. One out of ten recommendations in the report on casual trading was adopted. Some 21 recommendations out of 42 were adopted from the report on non-life insurance. Fifteen of 25 recommendations were adopted from the report on banking. Six of 11 recommendations were adopted from the report on the architectural profession. None of the five recommendations from the report on optometrists was adopted. It is quite clear therefore that a Government quango is issuing reports on the lack of competition in certain sectors, while the Minister files them away and forgets about them, as he did when he was Minister for Health and Children. There is a case for the NCC's recommendations to be implemented.

What consideration has been given to making amendments to the Competition Act that would allow for contract negotiations between professional bodies, such as the IMO and the IPU, and Government agencies, as opposed to price fixing?

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