Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Better than that would be two stores in one town, one at either end of the street competing aggressively with each other and offering consumers real choice and value.

I take issue with most of the statements by Deputies Eamon Ryan and Morgan. Deputy Eamon Ryan said the groceries order was not a major reason for the lack of competition in the market. No matter how often the Deputy repeats that statement, it will not make it true. The groceries order was the principal contributing factor in driving price competition out of the grocery trade after 1997. By creating a convoluted mechanism of discounts and rebates, it allowed suppliers to fix minimum prices below which most grocery prices could not be sold. Deputy Eamon Ryan flies in the face of the economic evidence on that score.

The Deputy also claimed the groceries order protected a form of retailing that he characterised as the corner shop. We cannot allow the outcome of a debate as serious as this to hinge on such misinformation and spurious claims. In 15 years after the groceries order was amended in 1987, more than 20% of the independent grocery stores in this country closed.

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