Ned O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

——where there are approximately 300 small grocers. I received a telephone call today asking was I to speak on this issue. I am reasonably familiar with Corofin and it is the Minister of State's backyard. There was a councillor who had a fine business down that way at one time and I had to canvass him on a Seanad issue or something. Such people will be affected by this legislation.

Predatory pricing is a real issue and everybody in this House has agreed that something must be done about it. This is the House where we make laws and we cannot tolerate monopoly situations.

I have picked up a few figures. While I do not like naming companies, the turnover of Tesco in Europe is €37 billion. It is in this country to make money. In rural parlance, money makes the mare go. We can examine the performance of its shares on the stock market. It is big into predatory pricing. It will target a small shopkeeper causing him pain, anger and suffering and get him out of the way. It will then have a monopoly, but who will pay the price? The poor will become poorer and the rich richer. That will be the result of the policy because poor people will have nowhere to go. Shops are falling by the wayside daily in villages in north Cork and County Clare because of unfair competition.

I did not have time to read the competition report but it has more flaws than any report ever printed because it was a hurried job.

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