Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)

The Minister of State would have to agree that Fianna Fáil traditionally claimed to be on the side of the small man and woman, but this Bill gives the lie to that proposition. It is certainly official now that Fianna Fáil, including the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Ó Cuív, irrespective of what he might state later, is on the side of the big man and woman and to hell with the ordinary small operator, the small grocery man, the small supermarket or the small convenience store. That is the bottom line on this legislation. The issue of the dominant position must be addressed. If it is not, it will create problems and they will never be resolved.

Predatory pricing must be outlawed regardless of whether a player is deemed dominant. There should be no qualification in that regard. It is important that all predatory pricing be outlawed, whether that trader is dominant or not. That is a repetition of what I said. The reason I repeat it is that I want to impress it upon the Minister of State. I hope he will have sufficient leeway, in the absence of his senior Minister, to give way to some degree on this.

Another issue, which must be addressed in this Bill or which otherwise will be abused, is that there should be no restriction on offers. That is a clause which must be included in the Bill. Otherwise a dominant operator will use this to advertise a litre of milk for sale at 10 cent, for example, where there will be only one litre of milk for sale at that price and every other litre will be sold at a substantially increased price. That is unfair competition. If somebody offers an item for sale at a greatly reduced price, then there should be an obligation on that operator to sell as many of those units as a person wishes to buy. That would soon cut out that kind of nonsense. If it is not included in this Bill and the Government does not ensure it is a practice in which one cannot be engaged, it will be used again to ensure that smaller operators will be put out of business and dominant players will remain. They will then do what they like because they will have eliminated the competition, and prices will rise. That is what will happen.

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