Madam - The monumental stupidity of the Competition Authority in the application of section 4 of the Competition Act to hospital consultants is shown by the fact that it can only result in higher prices for patients.
Sick people don't check around to see what consultant offers the best deal; they check with their GP to see who is best, or who is available, or even who is the nearest to where they live.
One would have thought that the underlying element for the existence of a Competition Authority would have been for the reduction of prices to the public.
When did any member of the authority ever ask their consultant what he was going to charge for removing their tumour or repairing their fractured limb?
It really is difficult to understand the thinking of some statutory bodies when they lose the run of themselves and fail to follow through with the consequences that might result from their rulings.
That it should have taken the authority five years to come to its conclusions suggests to me that it could do with a bit of competition itself. - Yours, etc,
JOHN A. CULLINANE,
Coolroe Heights,
Ballincollig,
Cork