Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Deputy Burton is correct that this is about providing clarity. Taxpayers would welcome this measure if they believed it could be enforced and if the Minister could provide us with some examples in this regard. The Attorney General's office has reasonably frequent resort to senior counsel advice from the Law Library. I am presuming, Minister, that this provision is contemporaneous with the application of the levy. If from 1 March the Attorney General's office is to have resort to professional advice from the Law Library, will the envisaged reduction apply?

Does the reduction envisaged occur in that case? If the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government receives a request from Dublin Castle in respect of the tribunals still extant, will this reduction be enforced in respect of professional fees at Dublin Castle? We need some of these examples, because there has been excessive profit taking in this economy in recent years and professional fees have borne no relationship to developments otherwise in the economy in the past ten or 15 years. In that sense this may not be insignificant.

Deputy Burton pointed fairly to the record of the Competition Authority as distinct from its rhetoric. Let us imagine that the banking situation was staring one in the face since the establishment of the Competition Authority, yet the case it decided to take to court was that of the Irish League of Credit Unions. The authority produced the fantastic conclusion that we require two such leagues. It is like saying we ought to have two football associations or FAIs. The other notorious case taken by the authority relates to pet food for Chihuahuas. It did not take on concrete blocks, soft drinks or anything else.

If this is to be simultaneously applied and enforced for all forms of professional fees, I welcome it. Section 9 relates to the Minister for Health and Children and section 10 relates to other State services. However, we deserve answers to the questions raised about process and clarity in terms of its application. I welcome it if it makes one small step in addressing the sheltered private sector.

Up to now, the debate about competitiveness has been about the public service versus the private sector. Depending on one's view of the world one exaggerates one or the other. However, there is a sheltered private sector and if we do not address it we will not seriously address the competitiveness issue in the economy. Will the Minister indicate if this small measure helps us towards that end?

See this speech in context