Services ‘need single regulator’

IRELAND’S regulatory agencies for energy, telecommunications and airports should be combined into one single regulatory body, according to a former cartel-buster at the state competition watchdog.

Pat Massey, who was head of enforcement at the Competition Authority until 2001, said sharp price increases for gas, electricity and postal services in recent years had contributed to a growing public disenchantment with the regulatory process and created the mistaken impression that competition had not worked in these industries. Mr Massey, who is now managing director of Compecon, a business consulting firm, was speaking at the Dublin Economic Workshop in Sheen Falls Lodge, Kenmare over the weekend.

“Greater transparency is required to restore credibility to price regulation. Future price reviews should be conducted by means of a public hearing. This would allow the arguments put forward by parties to be challenged directly.”