Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputy Barry and welcome the Minister to the House. I emphasise, and possibly agree with Deputy Calleary with regard to the respect within the corporate world and beyond for the Competition Authority in Ireland. It is a model of best practice and has the potential to be replicated. It is something of which to be proud. Obviously, the authority has challenges with regard to resources, which is a dilemma across the board.

I raise an anomaly I encountered recently in respect of European Regulation (EC) No. 1072/2009 introduced in May 2010, which governs cabotage, that is, the national carriage of goods for hire or reward carried out by non-resident hauliers on a temporary basis in a host member state. The rule states that nationally-registered vehicles driven by holders of international and national road freight transport licences can only enter another member state fully loaded and carry out these operations in a given week before being obliged to leave that state. Britain and Northern Ireland have implemented this cabotage regulation but as far as I am aware, the Republic of Ireland has either not done so or may be in the process of doing so. This has created unfair competition for hauliers in the Republic who wish to do business in Northern Ireland. I encourage the Minister to engage with the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport to address this anomaly because hauliers from the Republic of Ireland cannot compete with hauliers from Northern Ireland. As hauliers from Northern Ireland can operate freely within this jurisdiction but the opposite is not the case, I would appreciate the Minister's intervention in this regard.

When one talks about competition internally, one must be conscious that Ireland is a small open economy and that the world in which we live and do business has changed completely. There is a great deal of emphasis on export-led activity at present and I acknowledge the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation is greatly focused on this issue. During his recent trip to London, the Minister emphasised that 42% of our exports go to the United Kingdom and a massive two-way street exists in respect of such business. Consequently, any competition laws introduced within this jurisdiction should take cognisance of different fiscal barriers and jurisdictional challenges arising from crossing the Border into Northern Ireland, as well obviously on an east-west basis. This is a difficult question as there are two separate jurisdictions, two different fiscal regimes and two different parliaments working under different sovereign directions. Nevertheless, I compliment the Minister on his reaction when the proposal to reduce the rate of corporation tax in Northern Ireland came on the table. While the obvious reaction from the perspective of the Republic of Ireland would have been to be defensive and to argue against it, I welcome that the Minister put on record his support for this measure. Having a 12.5% corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland policy would lead to ancillary benefits because given all the North-South interactions and business links, we could benefit were companies to come to Northern Ireland that would have gone elsewhere in the United Kingdom. This constitutes one example of where we are trying to work together and is an example of goodwill and proactivity from a positive perspective.

As for competitive responsibility, I note the recent announcement by Vodafone's wing in the United Kingdom of a six-monthly revenue figure of £23 billion and a profit in 2010 of £8.7 billion. An onus must be placed on competitive responsibilities for mobile telephone operators. I always have emphasised that vast amounts of money continue to be spent on mobile telephone communication, as nearly every individual in every household has a mobile telephone, and consequently, these companies are making vast profits. What onus is being placed on the operators' competitive responsibility to reinvest part of their profits into infrastructural construction? In recent years, I have noticed there still are areas in which mobile telephone coverage is not available and in which gaps exist. This raises the question as to whether it suits existing operators to retain the present infrastructure, which will not facilitate new entrants. Some questions arise in this regard that must be dealt with.

At another level, I refer to roaming charges and the periodic announcements from Vodafone, O2 or Meteor to the effect that they have done away with roaming charges on a North-South basis. That may well be the case if one connects into the specific equal band. However, if one drives through Northern Ireland with a roaming telephone that seeks 100% coverage, one will go through three or four different areas. Consequently, a question arises as to this State's commitment to the North-South integrated strategies that were written in stone in the Good Friday Agreement. There is a role for Members to emphasise the importance of data roaming, which can involve a colossal amount of money. I note the work being done by the Ceann Comhairle and his Northern Ireland counterpart, Mr. William Hay, on a North-South basis through the North-South Parliamentary Forum. If one brings one's iPad, laptop or mobile telephone to Northern Ireland, these additional charges constitute a barrier for this type of movement. If this acts as a barrier for policymakers, it is an obvious barrier for business and this is an issue of which Members must be conscious.

As for competition within the university sector, the Good Friday Agreement places emphasis on integrated strategies in respect of education. While this may be the case, 1% of students from Northern Ireland attend southern universities, whereas 3% of students from the Republic of Ireland attend universities in Northern Ireland. Why is that access issue not being addressed? Why are we not opening up the island, with universities accessible to everybody? Traditionally, there has been the movement of Northern Ireland students to universities such as UCD and Trinity College, Dublin but a minimal number of students are participating in universities such as the University of Limerick, NUI Galway or UCC. We must consider the issue of access as one of competition.

EU guidelines always emphasise that in tendering for contracts - for example, in my local authority area - every small business, be it in Northern Ireland or the Republic, will have equal access, which is acceptable and normal. However, there is a paradox when one considers the different cost bases. A Northern Ireland contractor in tendering for a contract with Donegal County Council, to tar a road for example, will have a comparative advantage because it will benefit from lower costs, including energy, and a lower wage structure, as the previous speaker noted. While EU directives and legislation state the Border does not matter when it comes to tendering for contracts, it does because there are different jurisdictional challenges and barriers in terms of wage and energy costs. This is putting small companies in this jurisdiction against the wall because we cannot compete freely. This is an issue we need to examine. We need to consider the possibility of providing for a community and social contract where the emphasis would be placed on the different costs to be met.

To return to my point on east-west relations, the Queen's visit this year will be pointed to in terms of its historical and symbolic importance. It has created a new space for legislators to network, get to know each other better and work with each other on programmes and projects that will affect our constituents. What it has also done is to emphasise and increase the potential for further east-west and North-South relationships from a business point of view. Our job as legislators is to create the environment and introduce the positive policies that will make business easier. That is the challenge for the next generation of politicians on a North-South and east-west basis to give hope to students who are going to universities or in secondary school and thinking about where they will get work. We must look to our closest neighbours.

I will conclude by giving one figure. There is €200 million worth of business being created by Irish companies in London for the Olympic Games. This is an example of the positive influence exerted by Irish companies on an east-west basis. There is potential in that regard. We have to give students in universities hope that there will be quantity surveying and engineering jobs available in our closest neighbouring countries. To that end, I would like to see greater emphasis on the need for closer co-operation. It can and will be done. With the Minister's interventions and unique understanding of the North-South and east-west dimension, that will be a possibility in the future.

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