Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. I was glad to see that the glowing tributes paid to him last week had made such an impression on the Taoiseach that he made the correct decision.

As the Minister had answered all of our points on Committee Stage, I did not resubmit amendments on Report Stage. Regulatory capture, one of the issues we discussed, is a significant feature of the economy. When I left on Thursday, an evening newspaper claimed that there had been no arrests in the clampdown on rogue taxi operators. The taxi industry has achieved regulatory capture of its regulator to such an extent that we have had wild goose chases on the grounds that some taxi operators were tax dodgers - this was found not to be the case - social welfare fraudsters or, most recently, criminals.

The Taxi Regulator must serve the consumer as well and that post has been captured.

In terms of health insurance, I have always believed that it operates on behalf of the VHI and we ignore Supreme Court and European Court decisions here.

Item 46 on the Order Paper is Senator Quinn's Bill, which I supported, on trying to open up that market. If we are making health insurance compulsory then we have got to listen to the consumer sometimes. In the court case I did not see any witnesses produced to attest to the fact that new entrants had refused cover to old people but I did see the State represented by the Department, the Health Insurance Authority and VHI which meant there were three sets of lawyers to prevent competition in the sector.

The energy sector was captured also and a 55% increase in the public service obligation has been mooted. The bus sector will not be competitive for another 100 years, it happens in airports and our financial services sector is in an appalling state. Setanta was another insurance company which we thought was licensed in Malta but the bill will be sent to the Irish consumer. Strengthening, as the Bill does, the Competition Authority and consumer representation is most important and badly needed.

Some of the discussions have led to the invention of an ogre or bogeyman. In hugely competitive areas such as the media - and I mentioned that there are over 400 producers - and groceries - despite claims by the rest of the House that it is not competitive but I side with Senator Quinn that these are highly competitive industries - the tests are new entrants and the absence of regulatory capture. We have had new entrants in the groceries sector. However, we have invented the bogeyman that these people sell below cost first, get rid of their competitors and then increase the prices afterwards. I have waited for more years than I care to remember but the prices have not gone up and the industry's concentration is going down. Sometimes when producer groups go to the Minister, as the representative of consumers, they attempt to use consumer legislation to get at other producers or new entrants. The Minister should be very alert to that factor and it is also part of the Government's general concern about the activities of lobbyists. The consumer should be the voice that he listens to, not producers saying they would like their competitors put out of the market and will call it bogus consumerism.

The Minister is most welcome back and what he is doing to make the Irish economy more competitive is vital. As stated several times in the Bill, we need the sheltered sector services to become more competitive because the vital sectors that created the 70,000 jobs over the past year, as mentioned by the Minister, must compete internationally. They should be allowed to buy inputs at the best prices we can deliver. I thank the Minister and welcome him back to the House.