Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

I agree with the Deputy. Cost competitiveness is an issue across the range. For example, the Government is committed to tackling rents, to which end the Department of Justice and Equality proposes legislation to address the issue of upward-only rent reviews. While the cost of professional services has been decreasing, the National Competitiveness Council, NCC, has highlighted the fact that legal services are bucking the trend and their cost is increasing. The Government is committed to addressing this issue. The Government is also examining the potential for a reduction in the cost of rates, a matter I remember the Deputy being concerned with during my last Question Time.

The Government does not regulate any of the energy sector. That is the responsibility of the CER. Most of the sector, including the entirety of the electricity market, has been deregulated and the commission no longer sanctions individual increases. The only segments that remain subject to sanction by the CER are domestic gas users and, until October, small business gas users.

The policy of this and the previous Government has been to foster competitiveness in these sectors. However, costs such as the world prices of gas and oil are not within the control of the regulator or the providers. I asked the regulator to make distinctions between the elements of the cost structure that can be controlled within the State and those that cannot. As the Deputy suggested, perhaps greater attention can be applied to the elements of the energy mix that are controllable within the State. Some of these are long-term in nature, for example, the development of alternative sources.

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