John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I cannot support this amendment. I am loath to disagree with my friend and colleague Senator Barrett, who has argued that the Competition Authority is a barkless organisation, but we saw the teeth of that organisation in the recent negotiations on a new GP contract. The ruling from the Competition Authority in that regard was far from barkless.

Senator Burke made reference to creating unnecessary bureaucracy, and there is also the potential for an unintended legal consequence in that when we prescribe in law that somebody must do something, that generally excludes great numbers of other people from doing it, by inference. Senator Burke has already pointed out that it is open to any member of the public to draw an issue to the attention of the Competition Authority. If we were to prescribe in law that it was up to a member of the council or the board to do so, the danger is that this would be interpreted as meaning that members of the public should not. This is an issue worth considering.