Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

What is proposed in this amendment seems merely common sense. It begs the question why these provisions are not already in place. When the Government sets up an independent body, it does not set up a secret service..There must be some comeback in terms of a capacity to examine, without undue interference, the work it is doing and how it is organising its business. The amendment proposes that the Competition Authority should be obliged to publish all findings that are not commercially sensitive. Under the freedom of information legislation, unfortunately, many organisations are not covered and there is no way of getting this type of information. In the area of competition, such scrutiny would be good commercial practice. The provisions of the amendment are very much in line with the principles of good housekeeping which we have been discussing frequently in this House. It is good housekeeping practice to ensure a regulator is independent, but an individual could go AWOL, in which case the Government has no comeback. Perhaps there is something already in legislation to cover that, in which case the Minister might elaborate on it.

I am particularly interested in the energy sector. We have a very progressive Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, who has indicated his absolute commitment to renewable energy and to meeting our targets for 2020. I understand, however, that representatives of commercial bodies, especially in the west, that are ready to go with wind energy production have been told it will be 2020 before they can connect to the grid. Since 2004 there has been considerable liberalisation in respect of the energy grid, deregulation and so on, but I would like reports on whether it is working fast enough. If we are to meet our targets, should we not do more to facilitate private sector renewable energy development? I know of the fantastic work going on to promote grid 25 and to ensure we have the capacity to take it in. Not having the capacity is one thing, but it is another if private organisations say the capacity would be there if they were allowed in.

I am not too sure about the IMF, the EU and everybody else scrutinising our internal business because as everyone knows, we like our independence. We want to get rid of the troika as fast as we can. I hope we will be able access funding on the open market under Deputy Bruton's stewardship. I compliment him on the work he is doing. We should have the wherewithal to manage our own resources. I would like information from the Minister. What I said about energy applies to all areas of competition.