James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Something I have noticed from looking at car prices online is that there seems to be a degree of price gouging going on in terms of the difference for, let us say, a person buying a new Avensis, for example, that would probably have cost €35,000 at the time. If he or she was choosing the hybrid model of the same vehicle, it was often the case that it could be multiples of thousands of euros more expensive. Does Mr. Meally think the grant that is in place at the moment is sufficient? In terms of car brands in Ireland, does he think major dealerships are abusing the Government support that has been put in place to increase the price on hybrid models? Across a multitude of different brands - not to pick any one specifically - there seems to be a very significant issue that they just jacked up the price of the hybrid and electric models versus that of the traditional diesel and petrol engines.