Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 140: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if, in view of his speech on the Competition Act Amendment Bill 2010, he will provide a full list of all Competition Authority recommendations indicating the 40% that have been implemented, the 9% which are pending and with regard to the other 51% to indicate in each case whether the recommendation has been accepted or rejected or whether it is still under consideration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19888/10]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The Building Ireland's Smart Economy document, published in December 2008, contained a commitment to publish a whole-of-Government response to recommendations contained in Competition Authority reports within nine months of their publication. The October 2009 review of the Programme for Government, Renewed Programme for Government, further strengthened this pledge.

The recommendations made by the Competition Authority result from studies it carries out on various sectors or professions at regular intervals and usually contain a suite of recommendations, aimed at improving competition in the relevant area and are addressed to the responsible Government Department or body.

Following the commitment given by the Government in December 2008, my Department drew up an initial prioritised list of 21 recommendations, based on their impact on competitiveness. These 21 recommendations related, directly or indirectly, to five Government Departments.

The Government has reviewed the progress made by these Government Departments in responding to the 21 recommendations and a Government Statement to this effect issued in April 2010. In the statement the Government also noted that 40% of the total number of recommendations made by the Competition Authority between 2000 and 2009 had been implemented, with a further 9% being progressed. Since the review by Government earlier this year the Competition Authority has confirmed the following as the current position. Out of a total of 163 recommendations, 69 (42%) have been implemented with a further 13 (8%) recommendations currently being progressed.

The remaining number of recommendations (81 in total; 50%) can be classed as either not implemented; currently being considered by the relevant department or body; no longer relevant; not requiring action; or status unclear. An exercise is currently underway to clarify the precise status of all of these 'outstanding' recommendations in order to facilitate decisions on whether to reject or pursue each remaining recommendation. In line with a recent Government Decision, I intend to bring to Government twice-yearly updates on the implementation of these and any further recommendations made by the Competition Authority.

My Department has prepared a detailed list of the 163 recommendations made to date by the Competition Authority. The list also indicates the current status of each recommendation. I have arranged for this material to be sent to the Deputy directly. The Deputy may also wish to visit the website of the Authority (www.tca.ie) on which can be found each of the market studies as well as the rationale for each recommendation.