Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Any member of a profession can report a matter to the Competition Authority without the necessity for a provision to be included in legislation. Comprehensive legislation relating to the Competition Authority is already in place. This Bill deals with health care, and I do not believe we should now impose an additional condition here when the issue is already dealt with adequately in other legislation. Any person, whether a member of the council or of the general public, can report a matter to the Competition Authority, and it is up to that organisation to deal with such a report. This amendment, however, requires the Competition Authority to give an opinion on a matter, which is unnecessary and will only create more bureaucracy as well as delays in the process of putting rules and regulations in place. Therefore, I am not in favour of this amendment.