John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

The tax code is not the same as competition law. Irish criminal offences are as stringent as laws in the EU. On the whole issue of the competition law, as Deputy Mattie McGrath said, the merger of the National Consumer Agency, NCA, and the Competition Authority, will be included in legislation for which will be brought forward this year. Even the Competition Authority accepts that civil fines are not feasible at the moment.

It is important to put what the Government has done on the record. I chair the high-level group on business regulation. It is about cutting down the regulatory burden on companies It is about helping the 200,000 companies that employ 650,000 people to retain their staff. They are the backbone of the economy. It is about competition. The authority is a statutorily independent body.

Equally important as access to credit is cutting down on red tape. This is the job of government in many ways. While this legislation will give the authority an enhanced role, we all know the legacy with which we have been left. In terms of additional funding, what one has not got, one cannot give. The country is in significant difficulties. We are in receivership and do not have the same level of discretion enjoyed for 14 years by the previous Administration. It could decide what to do with the money. We need to collect €1.2 billion per month to cover what we are spending. This is difficult for competition.

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