On coming to power, the Government promised to break down barriers, break up the cosy cartels, open up competition, eliminate the system of nods and winks and abolish quangos. The transport industry is very important and creates large numbers of jobs. It welcomes the measures the Minister for Finance took in the budget on taxation paid on large vehicles.

Those who drive lorries must obtain a licence. In the past three or four years, a quango or cartel has developed among those who provide courses leading to a haulage licence. A cartel operating in the eastern region is preventing other companies from offering these transport courses. I contacted the Ombudsman about the issue in the past year and one company in County Leitrim has been in constant contact with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and the Chartered Institute of Logistics in Transport, CILT. It has also contacted the Ombudsman and its representatives are present in the Visitors Gallery. For four years, this company has been excluded from the system because it is able to offer courses for nearly half the price currently being charged by the cartel. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission wrote to me, making clear that the office is seriously concerned about what is taking place.

Will the Tánaiste give an undertaking that she will ensure that companies wishing to supply courses to people seeking a haulage licence will be treated fairly? Every time a letter is written about this issue, the reply states the matter is under review. A review was undertaken in 2011 but the companies seeking to compete in providing courses did not receive a response. Last year, when I wrote to the Department, I was informed again that the matter was under a review. Notwithstanding the lovely, fancy letters we receive from a Minister on this issue, it is clear the buck is being passed.

Approximately 80% of the work of the company which has been seeking information and trying to get on the ladder for the past four years is based in Athlone. It is interesting to note that because it raised its head above the parapet, all HGV testing in Athlone for buses and rigid and articulated trucks was suspended in the past week. Health and safety and a lack of places to turn a vehicle were the excuses given for the suspension. I know of 100 roads around Athlone where a heavy goods vehicle can be turned. I did my test in the area and have backed an articulated truck down many a road around Athlone.

There is something rotten, something that stinks, about what has occurred in the past four years. The Department, the Chartered Institute of Logistics in Transport and a cartel involving the suppliers of courses are caught up in a web that is keeping people out of the industry. Is the Government prepared to take on this cartel? Is it prepared to provide for fair and open competition for companies that can provide a service for nearly half the price consumers are currently paying?

The detail of the question the Deputy asks would be better directed to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport as it concerns references to specific companies which could have been addressed if the Deputy had provided them in advance. I undertake to have the matter examined and to revert to the Deputy with a reply. I acknowledge the welcome the haulage industry has given to the changes on the cost for those in the HGV sector. We are all aware that the industry suffered heavily during the downturn and, in particular, on foot of the recession in the construction sector. In the previous budget, the Government recognised the difficulties facing the sector and announced the fuel duty rebate for hauliers which could have resulted in significant savings. In the current budget, we have significantly reduced the cost of a licence to provide for greater competition in the haulage industry.

Can we deal with the cartel issue?

That is probably the most significant development and it has been widely welcomed by the industry. Given that he is raising issues around qualifications for those coming into the industry, the Deputy will be aware that SOLAS and the Department of Education and Skills have agreed with the haulage industry to develop traineeships for new and young people coming into the industry to qualify for HGVs and employment and self-employment. The Minister for Education and Skills indicated that in some detail at the launch of the Apprenticeship Council which has an agreement not only to relaunch traditional apprenticeships but to extend apprenticeships into new areas. Those new areas include the haulage industry. I had conversations with the Minister about that. One of the forms of employment that is most attractive to unemployed people is as a licenced haulier. My Department and the Department of Education and Skills have been co-operating on that. The Deputy may have seen that in the budget an extra €10.5 million was allocated to apprenticeship education which will mean that the overall number of apprentices will increase to 6,000.

In relation to the specific issues the Deputy raises, I will certainly raise them with the Department and revert to him.

This is going to take intervention at a high level. The Tánaiste told me to go to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. We have had two Ministers in that Department since 2011, neither of whom has cracked this cartel. These are the facts. It has not been done. No one is making the move. There are people who it appears cannot be challenged. What is left to the people at the moment? Hynes Quinn is a company in Leitrim that is providing 20 jobs and its only option now is to challenge this in court. As politicians we should be ashamed of ourselves. The EU talks about open competition for everyone. For a small SME to have to go to court to vindicate its entitlements is unacceptable.

I am not talking about SOLAS or the Department of Education and Skills. I know what they do and it is very good. I am referring specifically to the fact that for four years, two Ministers have closed their eyes. The Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport with the CILT and the quango allow a certain number of people to give a course. I am referring to people giving a course, not sitting down to get one. This little cartel is going on while other suppliers are fit to give this course around the country at nearly half the price. That would be a very good thing for the consumer and for ordinary people who need a licence to set up in the haulage industry. It is called a "haulage licence". They could get it at nearly half the price. Sadly, no one has done anything. Be it the Ombudsman or the consumer affairs commission, they do not seem to have clout. I am asking that someone takes this on at a high level to get it sorted. Nobody in the country should be forbidden from providing something that he or she is qualified to provide. He or she should at least be given the opportunity to get out there and be in competition. I ask the Minister to break this cartel. It must stop for the betterment of the haulage industry.

The Deputy has not said whether he has approached the competition authority. If this matter is purely one of competition, I would expect the competition authority to be interested in it were it referred by the Deputy and others. I go back to what I said about the budget. There are a lot of young people, as the Deputy knows, who could find very good and well-paid employment in the haulage industry, particularly given the fact that the measures introduced by the Minister for Finance in the budget have made the situation for Irish hauliers far more competitive through the reduction in the tax and licence rates. As an economy, we are now poised to have very significant further economic growth. Much of that growth will have to be served by the road haulage industry. Therefore, the Government, through the Department of Education and Skills, has put in place a plan with the haulage industry to provide apprenticeships for this occupation.

The Tánaiste is not answering my question at all.

I hope the Deputy would like to see young guys being able to get into the industry.

Yes, but I am not talking about that. I am talking about a cartel.

Yes, but I am talking about young people being able to get into the haulage industry through apprenticeships and traineeships.

The Tánaiste is not answering the question I asked about a cartel.

The Deputy did not make it clear whether or not he had referred any queries to the competition authority. I have given the Deputy an undertaking which I will fulfil to go to the Minister and get a response. However, the Deputy has not indicated whether he has taken the matter to the competition authority. What he has outlined is a competition issue. I do not know if the Deputy is saying to me that the competition authority has also turned him down.

I have made it clear that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has said that what is going on is wrong.

As such, the Deputy has been to the competition authority. I will take the matter up and come back to him with a response.