Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

They have been allowed free rein. In that regard, the fact that the word profiteering would pass the Taoiseach's lips suggests that it must be fairly severe because I have never succeeded in getting the same terminology out of him on those such as home-grown land speculators to whom he has given free rein as well.

What is the timescale in reining in the charges of these massive companies? Given that big business interests usually have the ready ear of the Commission and are now beginning to launch a considerable rearguard action against controlling their profiteering, what assurance can the Taoiseach give to the tens of thousands of ordinary working people who go to Europe for a short and well deserved holiday that they will not be ripped-off, for example, from this summer?

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