Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

Go raibh míle maith agat. Modesty forbids. In the dim and distant past, when I was growing up in a small town in north County Dublin with a population of 2,500, we had 15 grocery shops by my best count. We also had 15 public houses, which says something about Irish society at the time. That town's economy was based entirely on the months of July and August, when visitors would come from Dublin city and rent houses there so that the population doubled. Skerries was known as a seaside resort. My father was a small publican and relied completely on summer business for our family's livelihood. The package holiday in the early 1970s, however, put paid to all that.

Skerries has had to change dramatically. I mention it this evening in the context of changing society in Ireland. Now, in a town with a population of 8,500 rather than 2,500, we have four grocery shops instead of the 15 then. Society has changed irrevocably, some might say for the better and some for the worse. There is a balance to be struck and it is in the context of balance that I commend the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, on his recent actions regarding the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order 1987. I believe that the correct balance has been struck and I very much look forward to the appropriate legislation in the context of the Competition Authority being unveiled. I seek a Competition Authority with real teeth, undertaking real activity.

I come from a constituency that provides 50% of the national horticulture crop. I see the difficulties created for horticulturists in my constituency by the massive, monopolistic buying power of a very small number of individuals. Standards are being improved constantly in terms of the quality of the goods on presentation to the consumer but those standards are being used unreasonably and callously to exert unfair leverage on the supplier with a view to squeezing the grower's margin even further. Those are the unsatisfactory aspects of modern Irish life.

Another aspect that is worth mentioning is the huge difference between owner-operated local business and the chain of multinational operators. Local stores, whether they are under franchise or individually owned, are operated by local people with a vested interest in the local community. They employ locally, source their merchandise locally, bank locally and support local initiatives. If somebody from a local organisation goes into one of these shops looking for sponsorship for a local activity, the shop owner does not have to go to head office to get sanction. Invariably, the local operator will support it. They are an integral part of the fabric of society and should be protected. It behoves the Competition Authority to protect them.

Some of the comments made about the independent symbol operators carried a disturbing sub-text. Independent operators appear to adopt an approach that larger players are far better for consumers and that the further their head office is from Earlsfort Terrace or Kildare Street, the better. This is dangerous territory and represents a sleight on the thousands of hard-working, dedicated risk takers who have put their homes on the line to develop and fund their new business and provide employment. Like my colleagues I could go on ad nauseam but I will give way to my colleague, Deputy Carey.

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