Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Question No. 96 mentions the National Competitiveness Council's recommendations. I presume we are on the same question. That report showed last April that diesel prices in Ireland are 7% more expensive than in the euro area, Ireland's electricity costs are the fifth most expensive in the euro area, and landfill gate fees are the fifth most expensive of the ten countries surveyed. It is the fifth most expensive location out of 16 for industrial water costs. Our new business interest rates are higher, with loan rates 31% higher than in most of the euro area. The report tracks a big increase in the cost of business services and other inputs. Prices in the third quarter were 3.4% higher than those in 2010.

There is an absolute drift in cost management. Electricity costs are still very out of sync with those in the euro area. Even allowing for our island location, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources is still the main shareholder in ESB so the Government has a role to play. It is the main shareholder in all the main banks and has a big role to play in respect of interest rates. There has been so much focus on domestic water in recent weeks we forget the figure for industrial water costs. This is the fifth most expensive location for industrial water. The Government has control of that too but there is no sense of an attempt to tackle those costs.

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