Jimmy Harte (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State. I agree with Senator Kelly about whistleblowers. We are paying some bankers €500,000 per annum to tell us what we already know. If someone were paid €500,000 to clear up cartels it would be money well spent, rather than going to a banker. The case for providing extra resources to the Competition Authority is a good one. We should put more resources into this area. Cartels cost money and jobs.

One of the benefits of the Border is that when Asda arrived in Northern Ireland large supermarkets south of the Border dropped their prices. The arrival of Asda gave multiples in the South a kick up the ass. Some multiples in County Donegal dropped their prices because people were flowing across the Border to Asda. The arrival of Asda was good for Donegal, even if we did not shop there because it forced the big multiples to reduce their prices. The same may be true of the Minister of State's county.

Sinn Féin may not agree but there is a practical advantage to having the Border. If we were a 32-county State there would be more scope for cartels. When anti-cartel legislation is enacted no company in Ireland should be able to manipulate the market. I assure Senator Ó Clochartaigh that I do not use this example for any reason except to say the more competition we have the more our cost base is reduced.

The whistleblower idea would be a step forward. We should monitor the effectiveness of the UK whistleblower system. We should not rule that out.