Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Our town centres will be denuded of their businesses, which we cherished for years, thus resulting in ghettos and apartments. They will be destroyed. Many of our local authorities are dependent on parking charges in the centre of towns to allow them run those towns. However, there is free parking in the out-of-town developments and this militates against the little shops and stores, such as Supervalue. In east Cork there are probably six Supervalue stores and other such stores. I have spoken to representatives from all these since I became a member of the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business and they told me they are under real pressure. Some of the shops will not survive. There are Centra, Mace and Spar stores also.

In Mitchelstown, from which I come, there is a Tesco store. For 18 years, there have been 3,300 people on the register of electors in the town. There is a Lidl store in the town and there is to be an Aldi store but there will be no shop in the main street before the next general election. I will be proved right in saying this because the shops on the street are under pressure because of parking restrictions and attractions in other locations, which I believe are not desirable.

In Youghal, for example, we have, over the past three years, seen the opening of a Lidl discount store and an out-of-town Tesco store. These are now competing alongside the existing town-centre retailers. There is no doubt in my mind that the location of out-of-town retailers has had a negative impact on the vitality and vibrancy of town centres.

A nail would be driven through the coffin of many town centre retailers if large retailers operating on the outskirts of towns were given additional ammunition to help undermine competitors within specific localities. For example, if Tesco and Lidl became involved in below-cost selling or predatory pricing in Youghal, they could inflict considerable damage on the viability of the existing town centre retailer, which is going out of business in spite of its high level of service and high quality produce.

The issues for discussion in this Bill go to the heart of the provision of retailing, not just in Dublin but in every town and village throughout the country. Issues arise as to whether competitors will be allowed to compete on the basis of fair or unfair market rules. I am concerned that this Bill is disjointed, in particular the provisions that suggest conditional prohibitions on appalling activities such as the demanding of hello money, the demanding of unfair contract terms and so forth. Under the groceries order these measures were banned outright, but in this legislation they are tolerated, except under certain conditions which I suspect will be complex.

I am deeply concerned that the Bill does not deal with the issue of predatory pricing.

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