Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

I welcome the Bill and commend Deputy Hogan and the Fine Gael Party for introducing it. As Christmas approaches, the Bill's provisions are welcome and timely, deserving the support of all Members. It is not as if they are outrageously expensive or will bring the free world as we know it tumbling down. The Bill is modest but will make a great difference to people who are trying desperately to stretch limited incomes as far as possible, with no help from the Government.

There is a clear need to beef up the role of the Office of Director of Consumer Affairs. The director has done an excellent job and very worthy work in recent years in highlighting malpractice by retailers. Unfortunately, she has not had much power to do anything about the problems. Naming and shaming and limited fines are well and good — this is not a reflection on the person or the office — but the question arises as to the degree of power the office holds. The director told us a week after an international rugby match that seven pubs ripped off the public. While closed circuit television does not prevent crime it shows who committed it. Action can be taken only after a wrong has been done, and in the case I mentioned the pubs involved denied that they ripped off people. That is an incredible system to have in a country that claims to be on top of its game in terms of technology and how it operates.

For too long the only weapon at the discretion of the Director of Consumer Affairs has been to name and shame. It is time to give the office much more competence in the area. I welcome the change of role outlined in this Bill to make the office a corporate enforcer with the power to impose fines on those who breach the guidelines. The Bill refers to only one aspect of a much wider problem. People constantly ask who is the consumer. I recall the question posed in school "Who is my neighbour" and the answer given, "My neighbour is all mankind". That could apply to consumers. All mankind are consumers.

Consumers are insufficiently protected here. There is anecdotal evidence that this is an expensive country. There is evidence to prove that Ireland ranks near the top of the list of the world's most expensive places to live. One would scarcely have thought a few years ago that, in comparison with a shopping basket in Ireland, one in Nice would be cheaper and that one could live on less money there. A few years ago Nice was an expensive place to visit, but that is no longer the case. Ireland is now a very expensive place to visit.

The economic boom has brought jobs, prosperity and opportunities but has also delivered growing disparities between rich and poor, aided by profiteering by large companies, which have consistently exploited the Irish consumer. This must come as a shock to visitors from Germany, whose quality of life was far more developed than ours when we entered the European Union, if they have not read about the cost of living here. In the four years up to May of this year the cost of goods and services rose by 22% above the EU average, putting Ireland on a par with Finland. Restaurants and pubs were the main contributors, accounting for 25% of the total in the five years up to January 2004. I saw a chef on television recently who said that after serving a meal and paying the various charges he made €4 profit. If I was making €4 profit after sweating over a hot stove from 4 o'clock in the afternoon I would not be in that kitchen the following night.

An extraordinary financial burden is placed on the average working family, which is especially felt at this time of year, in the run-up to Christmas. The Minister of State said that the Minister intends to put certain measures in place, but if his record in the Department of Health and Children is any measure he will commission a plethora of reports but will do nothing. I am not holding my breath waiting for reform in his Department. The Government is culpable. Its decisions and those of its agents on VAT, price increases and State regulated goods and services, such as electricity and telecommunications, have added almost 8% to the rate of inflation over the past five years. That is an incredible figure. Those charged with protecting the consumer allow the circumstances in which retailers can rip us off.

We do not need to travel outside the island to compare and contrast prices for a range of consumer goods. Supermarket chains in the North that have premises in the South sell exactly the same goods at significantly lower prices in the North. A packet of biscuits in Tesco in Newry is much cheaper than it is in Tesco ten miles down the road in Dundalk. These are fundamental differences. As I listened to the men make their contributions tonight I thought this debate should be limited to women.

See this speech in context