Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his reply and I will happily give him the individual details. They may be of interest to his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, because the company is based in a town in County Clare.

The practice is widespread and has been for decades. This was the way business was traditionally done. The arrival of big multiples in this sector, such as those I mentioned, has changed the set of circumstances. Previously, if the Minister or I had gone as retailers to a manufacturer in Britain, France or Spain to purchase into our own market, we would have been told "No" and that we needed to deal with such and such a person who had the agency for Ireland.

This was fine if no one else was bringing the product into Ireland, as the same price was being charged, by and large. One can see the colour advertisements for the likes of Lidl and the relative differences in price, which are significant. Irish retail distributors and shop outlets cannot access those types of products at the prices Lidl does due to the volume involved. The viability of many small retail outlets across the country is at risk.

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