Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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Apart from the individual complaints - Mr. Godfrey indicated how these are dealt with - I am interested in hearing a little of the general position in the sector. Looking online, it seems that Ireland's pricing is approximately in the middle of the range across the European Union. There are approximately ten countries charging higher prices for motor fuels and eight that charge lower prices. The tax element is approximately the same, with eight countries having a higher charge and the rest charging a lower amount. Ireland is approximately in the middle of the table.

Over the past two or three months since the issue has put big pressure on people, has the commission tracked how Irish prices are rising compared with other countries? Is there evidence that there is more profit-taking going on that may be signalled by higher prices in Ireland than in other EU countries? What are margins like in this sector? Is it a sector where excessive margins are, in general, being taken that may justify a review even if it is not an investigation or specific prosecution?

How is the issue of dominance defined in the motor fuel sector? In a region or county where there are very few suppliers, could pricing be challenged on grounds of dominance or is that just too complicated? Related to this, is there a concept of price gouging whereby prices are going up and people take advantage to gouge out more margin? Is that something we could develop a code of practice around even if we could not individually prosecute people, so at least there could be some trail of evidence to indicate that gouging went on during a period of volatility that one could seek to investigate over time?