Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

This is a dual-purpose Bill. It revokes the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order 1987 and brings about changes arising from that in the Competition Act. I agree with much of what has been said by speakers from both sides of the House. In recent years I have seen huge changes in retail practices in rural Ireland. The groceries order was the target of the multiples for a number of years for some reason. They wanted to get rid of it. After the consultations and reports the Minister has eventually agreed. While I have no serious disagreement with the Minister, as a representative of a rural constituency I want to know if the Competition Authority will have enough power, muscle and influence to prevent what could happen as a result of this Act going through. I cannot understand why the multiples were so anxious to get rid of the groceries order. These changes were taking place without any amendment to that order. In my county and constituency I have seen that these changes have taken place before the order has been revoked. I go through villages in my county and I see shops closing down that were in existence for more than 100 years. Last year, I was in the village of Creeslough, which everyone has heard of in song and story, and a shop that was there for 105 years had closed down. The village of Laghey is a few miles south of Donegal town. When I came into this House for the first time 20 years ago, there were four corner shops in that village, but there is just one today. This has been happening all over rural Ireland without the groceries order being revoked. Unless there is some balance brought about, this new Bill will accelerate what has been happening in the last ten to 15 years. I am greatly anxious about how rural Ireland will look in ten or 15 years' time.

The post offices in rural Ireland are being closed by the dozen every year. In my parish of Gweedore, two post offices were closed in the past six months in Crolly and Ranafast. The shop in Ranafast has also gone. Things are changing in rural Ireland and I believe that this Bill will accelerate that change to the detriment of the people living there. The people of Laghey have built a housing scheme for the elderly, but they now have just one shop when they used to have four. There is no guarantee that that shop will stay open and where will the elderly people go then? They would have to hire a car as some of them do not have any transport. Rural Ireland could do with a better public transport system. These elderly people would then have to go to the nearest town to the nearest Tesco or Aldi. This Bill could deliver a serious blow to social and commercial life in rural Ireland. The service provided by the little corner shop is not provided by the multiples. The shopkeeper always knew what the customer wanted before he or she even came in. It is a pity to see that disappear.

There is nothing in this Bill to prevent predatory pricing or below cost selling. Perhaps the main reason in getting rid of the groceries order was that predatory pricing could occur. We know what that means. Prices can be reduced on a few items which are advertised on the weekend papers. Everyone flocks to the multiple for these bargains, but they then buy the rest of the groceries at prices that are over and above that which is saved on the below cost items. Can the Minister guarantee that this will not happen day after day? If that happens, it will put the remaining retail outlets in rural Ireland out of business. This also has implications for producers. Many of these multiples get their products from outside the country. What are the implications for our producers and native industries? We need to get some guarantees that these producers will have the opportunity to supply these multiples. I am not against multiples. We have a Tesco in Letterkenny that is open 24 hours a day. People come from my parish 30 miles away to shop there in the middle of the day or night and get what they want. The old shops used to stay open until 9 p.m., but they can no longer do that because the multiples provide a 24-hour service.

This Bill presents serious dangers to life in rural Ireland and to our way of life that has existed for so long. I drove through England last year and I went for miles without seeing a village shop until I came to one of these multiples. That is happening in Scotland and on the Continent as well. It will be a great pity if it happens in Ireland as well. We have a unique social scene in rural Ireland. People come here from the Continent and travel to the newsagents, the butcher and other shops. If that network of shops disappears, an important and valuable element of our life will disappear. I hope the Minister will be able to give us guarantees that this will not happen and that what has already has happened in the past ten years will not be accelerated as a result of what we are doing in this Bill.

The responsibility for this is being handed over to the Competition Authority. We have seen how that authority has acted and it has left much to be desired. I do not see any sign that it will be more effective in future. Perhaps the Minister can guarantee that it will. Otherwise, there may be serious repercussions for constituencies like mine, that of the Minister and that of Deputy Breen.

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