Shane Ross (Independent)

I support the remarks of Senators Norris and Finucane on the issue of Intel and multinationals. It is appropriate that we have an early debate on what has happened there. Too often the House decides to have debates on matters which are irrelevant by the time we come to discuss them.

We may generally be running riot with EU rules and I am not sure whether that is good or bad. Intel is not the only case of this kind which has given rise to concern at the Commission in the past week. It is about to intervene to say that RTE is abusing its position with its use of the licence fee in a non-competitive way. The Commission is concerned with the public sector as well as the private sector.

We should have a serious debate on this issue and the Government's attitude to it, by inviting the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the House. It is stunning to see that the Government appears surprised at the EU Commission's decision. It withdrew quickly in the face of this opposition which could have serious long-term consequences for inward investment. We might need to reconsider our economic direction. It would be useful to have a serious debate on this before the end of next week.