Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the House. I also welcome this Bill. The Minister gave a comprehensive overview of the legislation in his opening statement. I agree with Senator Thomas Byrne that former Tánaiste and Minister, Mary Harney, made a valuable contribution in this area.

On competition, I was fortunate enough to be apprentice to the solicitor who took one of the first anti-competitive cases to the European Court in 1974. The case involved the Irish Sugar Company, which had decided it was no longer going to sell sugar to wholesale distributors but would sell it directly to retailer, which the European Court held was anti-competitive.

I welcome the provisions set out in sections 3 and 4 of the Bill which empowers ordinary individuals to take action if necessary. The only difficulty I have in this regard is the cost to the individual of taking such an action and, in the event of a case being lost, him or her being liable for the cost of taking the action. I recently filed a complaint with the Competition Authority in respect of another State agency, the VHI. A new private hospital is for the first time in 95 years to open in Cork. While two health insurance companies have agreed to cover use of facilities at that hospital by their customers, the VHI has refused to do so, which I believe is anti-competitive. The Competition Authority is current dealing with the detailed complaint which I filed with it on this matter.

This is where the Competition Authority can play a very important role in ensuring that one or two businesses or enterprises do not control what happens in an area. There is a lack of competition in the private health care area in Cork, and it is important that this new facility is allowed to open. The only way that can happen is if VHI customers are allowed to use that facility. I look forward to the investigation by the Competition Authority on the issue as it is important to bring down the cost of health care in the country. I understand that as part of the process, the VHI is revisiting the issue and the company that wants to open a hospital has brought down its prices. This proves that where there is competition, prices are forced down, and in the health care area we must bring down the costs.

With regard to anti-competitive practices, one or two issues are arising which cause their own problems. There is the question of the HSE negotiating with GPs, and I understand there are some limitations as it would be seen as anti-competitive if the Irish Medical Organisation negotiated directly with the HSE with a view to an overall contract. That is causing some difficulties but I am not sure how this will be approached in future. The Department of Education and Skills can negotiate directly with teachers and agree a salary scale but there is a problem because the HSE cannot negotiate with doctors because they are employed under contracts. That causes a problem in moving the negotiations forward.

This is a welcome change in legislation and it is required. The Minister has already outlined the constitutional problems with regard to the civil arena and a constitutional amendment might be required if we took on board the concerns of Senators White and Byrne. That is not available now, unfortunately. This legislation is welcome and gives the opportunity for the ordinary individual to take his or her own action. It would also give far more power to the Competition Authority, and that is long overdue. I thank the Minister for bringing forward the legislation.