Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 140: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the serious concern expressed in recent months by consumers at prices and general cost of living issues as reflected by the public reaction to the "Rip Off Republic" television programmes and the opinion poll in the Irish Examiner showing that cost of living and "Rip off Ireland" was now the biggest issue of concern among those polled; his views on the validity of these concerns; the steps he intends to take to end exploitation of consumers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25671/05]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the concerns expressed in several quarters about the price of certain goods and services and, in particular, the belief among many consumers that they are not getting a fair deal. The Deputy will be aware that in March 2004 the Tánaiste appointed the consumer strategy group to advise and make recommendations for the development of a national consumer policy strategy.

In its recently published report Make Consumers Count, the group concluded that Irish consumers are not getting a fair deal. Notwithstanding the fact that the latest returns show that inflation continues to moderate, the Government is concerned that consumers are not getting value in a number of areas.

The group's report re-emphasises the importance of empowering consumers so that they can make informed choices and reap the benefits of freely functioning competitive markets. The Deputy will be aware of developments in competition policy in terms of increasing the resources to the Competition Authority and updating competition law.

The consumer strategy group has suggested a way forward for consumer protection policy, particularly how the balance of power can be shifted more toward the consumer, and has made more than 30 separate recommendations as to how this can be achieved. The group's core recommendation that a new statutory body, the national consumer agency, be established to advocate the consumer's case has already been accepted by the Government. My Department has begun work to ensure the new agency is formally established as soon as possible.

The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs continues to play an important role in the area of consumer protection, particularly in enforcing the wide range of existing consumer laws and regulations. In this regard the Deputy will be aware that my Department recently significantly increased the sanctions for breaches of those laws.

To build upon the work of the ODCA and to ensure that the momentum of the CSG report is maintained and that the consumer's voice is heard, I recently appointed a board to the new agency to act in an interim capacity until the agency is formally established. The Deputy will be aware that since its appointment, the board has been very active on issues such as the debate on the future of the groceries order, the cost of goods and services etc. It is vital that these and other consumer debates are not dominated by vested interests as has happened heretofore and that the consumer's case is forcefully advocated and articulated. I am confident the interim board will continue to be a forceful advocate for the consumer until the full national consumer agency is established. In this regard I am aware that the board intends to increase its activities significantly in terms of consumer awareness, advocacy and information campaigns.

In addition to the establishment of the NCA, a number of the other recommendations of the consumer strategy group have already been implemented. For example, my Department has significantly increased the fines for breaching consumer protection laws as recommended by the CSG. The Department is also reviewing the current extensive code of consumer law to ensure that it meets the needs of the modern consumer.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House.

I am satisfied that the report of the consumer strategy group offers the way forward. The report re-emphasises the importance of promoting competition and empowering consumers. I am confident the application of these policies in conjunction with the work of agencies such as the Competition Authority, the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and the interim board of the national consumer agency will help to ensure that consumers get a fair deal.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Is the Minister aware that a recent opinion poll published in the Irish Examiner showed that 25% of the population believe we live in a rip-off culture and that 49% regarded consumers being fleeced as the biggest single item concerning them, ahead even of the health service? Does the Minister agree that the people are right? Does he accept that it aggravates people to hear him talk of low inflation when on 1 October they will be faced with gas price increases of 25% and when VHI premiums has doubled since the Government parties came to office? I ask him specifically not what he believes or is aware of but what he will now do after more than eight years in office to address issues that clearly represent the priority with the voting public.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am obviously aware of everything that is published in the Irish Examiner and will continue to be so in future.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The people are aware of the Minister's inaction on the issues.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In addition, we appointed the national consumer agency to go after consumer issues.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Government parties have been in office for eight years.

Séamus Pattison (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The Minister should be allowed to speak without interruption.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government does not and will not set prices or act as a price-controlling agency, which is a fundamental principle to which we adhere. However, we can empower the consumer to an extent that has not been done historically. It is somewhat difficult to take the Deputy sincerely having read the deliberations of the Oireachtas joint committee on an issue such as the retail sector. When a fundamental issue was discussed by the Oireachtas joint committee, the Deputy held to a no-change position.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Did the Minister read the report?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I certainly did.

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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He should read it again.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In many ways it highlighted a degree of hypocrisy. While the Deputy rails loudly and strongly articulates the issues, when it comes to concrete actions as to how we should address the issues, he comes up very short. The mechanisms we have put in place and the resources we will allocate will address the matter. The Competition Act introduced by my predecessor, the Tánaiste, is quite significant and advanced legislation to address competition issues in the economy. Ultimately we will drive prices down through competition and by creating the right kind of environment and context. We will continue to advocate those types of ongoing initiatives to get dividends.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I will be glad to answer questions from the Minister when I sit in his seat. However, right now he must answer my questions. What does he have to say about the 100% increase in VHI charges, the 25% increase in gas charges which will occur in October, and the 44% increase in electricity charges since 2002? What does the Minister have to say about his record, which is under scrutiny in the House now? When will we see the legislation on the much-vaunted national consumer agency, or are we to believe what we read in a weekend newspaper, namely that it will be delayed for another year, and that the agency will act on an interim basis without statutory authority? Is that the level of priority the Minister attaches to this issue after so long in office?

We on this side of the House will not be berated about action on the groceries order. The Tánaiste sat in the Minister's Department for a number of years and did nothing about it. The Minister should stop talking about it. When will he take action on any of the issues which affect the voting public and the consumers who are now greatly fed up at paying through the nose, at stealth taxes and higher prices, while the Minister pretends we have a low tax economy?

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We are not pretending we have a low tax economy. As I said in reply to a previous question, Ireland comes first out of 15 countries, and does well in any international comparison, in terms of low income tax.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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We are not talking of income tax. I am talking of stealth taxes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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With all due respect, the Deputy said I should stop pretending we have a low tax economy.

Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
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There are 36 stealth taxes.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have a low tax economy. That is so in respect of any international assessment of Ireland's tax position, be it with regard to corporation tax, which we reduced from 36% to 12.5% since this Government came to power, or with regard to income tax.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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We are not talking of income tax. The corporation tax rates were agreed by the rainbow Government.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We brought in a regulation which deals with issues related to electricity, gas and so on. Setting the market price for any of the utilities does not fall within the ambit of a particular Minister.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The Minister is indifferent to the price rises.

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Equally, we cannot in some instances compare our position on energy prices with those of our counterparts, given our historic reliance on fossil fuels, 90% of which we import to meet our energy needs.