Feargal Quinn (Independent)

The Minister of State is welcome to the House, as is the Bill. I believe the Bill is necessary and that we must have it. I know it is temporary legislation until the main Bill is enacted, and I have read what the Minister of State has said.

In respect of this temporary legislation, we must take cognisance of one of the problems that has arisen in recently whereby nominees to various boards and committees have been accused of being unsuitable because very often they were political appointments. Let us ensure we do not have political appointments in this area. In 1979 the old Department of Posts and Telegraphs was divided between An Bord Telecom and An Bord Poist. Michael Smurfit and I were appointed chairmen, respectively, of the two boards. That was acceptable because it was clear these were not political appointments. In those days it was quite customary, and not unlikely, for appointments to be political.

The other thing that concerns me is that nowadays the best people are not necessarily willing to accept appointments to boards or authorities because of the onerous duties and responsibilities they must accept. We must be careful when establishing regulations that they do not deter the right people from accepting such positions. It is important that changes are made in the way we do business to make ourselves more competitive. I hope this short Bill will point us in that direction.

The only real way to create more jobs is through competition. We must avoid protectionism or going alone in certain areas. I have spoken before about the code of conduct for the grocery trade in Ireland, as mentioned by the Minister of State, which will deal only with the relationships between Irish retailers and Irish suppliers. Thus, it only applies - and can only apply - to Irish suppliers and retailers, which means it cannot be enforced for those whose headquarters are outside the State. We are now part of Europe, and if we pass laws that hinder the operation of Irish retailers and suppliers, we are handing a gift to competitors abroad. Those retailers and suppliers which are based in Britain, Germany or wherever are not affected by it and, no matter how much pressure we put on Irish suppliers in the future, it will work against their interests and therefore those of Irish consumers.

We must remember that there are much wider outside forces at work. We are part of the EU and we must try not to introduce more regulations that may hinder Irish businesses even more. Let us consider the example of the carbon tax. The French, after announcing that a carbon tax was to be introduced, decided against introducing it in the belief that it would hinder French businesses in competition with others. Instead, they are waiting for a more EU-wide implementation of such a tax, as they believe this would be a much fairer way of doing business and would give French businesses a chance to compete. Should we have pushed for the type of carbon tax we have when our competitors do not have such a tax?

I am glad we seem to be becoming more competitive in various ways. For example, fewer shoppers are crossing the Border to shop, not because of any regulations or rules but because we have managed to bring costs down and make ourselves more competitive. We need to recognise this more widely if we are to create jobs instead of merely concentrating on protecting existing jobs. We have much more to do. Certainly the drop in the euro compared with sterling has helped a little, but the costs of energy and rent are still outrageous. We are making ourselves uncompetitive. The Government cannot necessarily do everything in that area, but it can unravel some of the constraints we have.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, has indicated that following this Bill, his priority will be to provide for the amalgamation of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority. I am concerned about the effect this may have on the retail sector. About 280,000 people are employed in retailing - not just grocery retailing but all retailing - and it must be borne in mind that these two bodies have different views on the code of conduct proposed for retailing. How can we reconcile these different views when it comes to amalgamation? One will have to prevail, and I hope it will be the view that we should not put more constraints on competition, as the National Consumer Agency would have preferred. We must try to reduce costs in this area. I urge the Minister to take these two opposing views into account, especially considering the massive benefit of the retail sector to this country.

The 280,000 jobs in the retail sector depend on competition and on the ability of one trader to be better than another - to persuade customers to drive past another shop and come to that trader's shop. It is a competitive marketplace. The good news, however, is that jobs are being created all the time. Retail Excellence Ireland has had three seminars in the past three weeks. I attended all three: one that finished yesterday in Cork, one the previous week in Limerick, and the first one in the Burlington Hotel. The organisation advertised and ran a free course in retailing to encourage people who are not working in retail to consider a career in this area. I met engineers and architects who had not even considered retail as a possible source of employment. They came along to these free courses in Dublin, Limerick and Cork and left, as far as I could see, with a great deal more confidence than they had before because they could do something about their situations.

I mention this because a number of retailers have said they need more workers. Retail Excellence Ireland reckons that 1,000 jobs will open up in the retail sector before the end of the year. This was an opportunity to give people who would not otherwise have considered a career in retail the opportunity to explore this area. Competition will encourage retailers and suppliers to flourish. The steps being taken by the Government are in the right direction. Let us ensure we encourage competition and that the country's retailers and suppliers, and especially consumers, get the benefit of that competition.