Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 13, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:“(r) the Commission, where a reasonable doubt exists about competitiveness of a market and/or economic sector, may open an exploratory investigation in the contestability of a market and submit a proposal for further action to the Minister or any other Minister of the Government to ensure a competitive market environment.”.

As we said on the last day, discussions on ways to make the economy competitive are extremely valuable and it is in that spirit that I welcome the Minister. On the last day we also referred to some of what is contained in my amendment.
We tend to have some sectors of the economy which compete internationally and act as a model for the economy, of which the Minister has been champion by adding between 60,000 and 70,000 jobs annually. The international trading sector has helped to tide us over a period when, to solve some of our debt problems, we had to deflate domestic demands. The sector is very competitive while others are not. The Minister mentioned some of them when he referred to liaising with other agencies. They may not be competitive due to regulatory capture or due to being sheltered from the international winds of competition.
We support section 10(4) which states:

The Minister may request the Commission to carry out a study or analysis of—(a) any issue relating to consumer protection and welfare,
(b) any practice or method of competition affecting the supply and distribution of goods or the provision of services, or
(c) any other matter relating to competition.

My amendment adds to the provision by referring to the work of the competitiveness council, or any evidence that comes to the Minister's mind, or if people from outside the country say a service in Ireland is expensive in comparison with what they thought it would be from their experience in whatever country they come from, such as Canada or Germany. One of the current issues of concern to me is that, even after years of domestic devaluation and promoting export-led growth, we still appear to have higher construction costs than Germany. If the Minister and commission feel these matters are important, let us investigate and strengthen the hands of Ministers and the Oireachtas in order to have a competitive economy. The purpose of my amendment is to assist the Minister in strengthening the Bill and, in the process, benefit us all by making the economy competitive.
My amendment also calls for the commission to have the power to intervene where it feels services and goods of any kind are too expensive for overall national competitiveness. The Irish economy depends a great deal on export-led growth and faces, as a small open economy, a lot of competing imports in the traded sectors. We do not want to burden either the exporters or those facing competing imports with excess costs for services of any kind within this economy. The amendment was put forward in the hope of assisting the Minister and the Bill, the goals of which I share.