Joe O'Toole (Independent)

On two occasions last year, I raised the question of the function of auctioneers and how they operate. I suggested that the House should look at the way they do business, their duties and their responsibilities. On both occasions, I received strong support from all sides of the House and Members felt that something should be done.

There should be a discussion on how this profession might be regulated properly. There are people involved in it who drag down the good name of decent people. The vast majority of auctioneers are decent people who do decent work, but there have been cases, detailed at the tribunals and elsewhere, of prices being bumped up in the case of young people buying houses. There have been high profile cases where auctioneers have been both buyers and sellers of land, which is grossly unfair to ordinary consumers.