The Licenced Vintners' Association (LVA) has criticised the findings of the OECD report in relation to the licenced trade.

Mr Frank Fell, chief executive of the association, which represents publicans in the Dublin area, said the report was a "reworking" of a 1998 report by the Competition Authority. The OECD report said the regulations governing public houses "substantially increase the cost of drinks for consumers". However Mr Fell said deregulation would not influence price but would influence standards. Deregulation had led to a fall in standards in the UK, he added.

Mr Fell said there was a substantial shortage of pubs in the Tallaght area but prices there were lower than in cities such as Cork, Limerick and Galway where there were more pubs per head than in Dublin. Mr Kieran Fitzgerald, director of the Food and Drink Federation, said the OECD had theoretical objections to the Groceries Order but the fact was that the order helped keep down food prices. The Groceries Order bans the sale of certain foods at below the cost at which they are purchased by the retailer. It covers a wide range of foods including milk, bread, tinned foods and processed foods.

Mr Ken Murphy, director general of the Law Society, said there was no evidence that the society's role in the education of solicitors and entry to the profession was inhibiting competition. He said approximately 1,500 new solicitors will qualify in the coming 18 months.

Mr Frank Clarke SC, chairman of the Council of the King's Inns, said there could be no objection to the system governing the qualification of barristers being examined to insure the numbers entering the profession were not being suppressed. If the system was found to be working it should not be changed, he added.

The secretary general of the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU), Mr Seamus Feely, said it welcomed the decision to go ahead with a review of regulations governing the profession.

But the current edition of IPU Review argues that fewer chemists' shops would open and others might close without current restrictions.

The rules, introduced in 1996, mean that anyone wishing to open a pharmacy must get permission from the local health board. The IPU argues that "the regulations have undoubtedly led to a more rational distribution of pharmacies and many small towns have a pharmacy today which would not have one" otherwise.