Results 2,541-2,560 of 50,136 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Competition Authority. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: Yes. I need to get the details of the specific case. If the Deputy provides them, I will ask my officials to scan through them and determine if there is any basis on which to send the case to the Competition Authority. The retailer in question could do so also. From my observation of the brief before me, if a domestic company went unsolicited to Germany to make a purchase, a refusal to sell...

Competition Authority. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The other side of that coin is that some of these exclusive arrangements can be detrimental to competition and competitive pricing. They could have had the impact of keeping prices artificially high. We held a significant debate on this matter in the context of the groceries order and so forth. There is no question that the market has changed. The convenience sector has grown considerably....

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I am aware of recent media reports referring to a survey indicating that the cost of grocery goods has increased. There are many inputs into the final price paid for grocery products by consumers, including many outside our control. I note that the Central Statistics Office has identified high fuel prices, the introduction of higher interest rates by financial institutions and increased...

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The decision to abolish the groceries order was not based on the Competition Authority report nor the consumer strategy group's report but on a comprehensive report prepared by my Department, which was circulated to Deputies at the time. That report stated: . . . we don't believe that it is possible to predict in any meaningful way the precise extent of such price reductions. Ultimately, that...

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I find the Deputy's position illogical. By implication, he attempts to suggest for political reasons that removing a legislative mechanism which put a ceiling below which people could not sell——

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: ——has facilitated the increase in grocery prices.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: It is an illogical position to adopt. The Deputy and the world outside know that a multiplicity of factors are involved, such as oil price increases.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I did not interrupt Deputy Hogan. If the price of a barrel of oil continues to increase at the rate at which it has over the past 18 months, does the Deputy seriously suggest that it will have no impact on prices? It would be foolish to suggest it would not.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: We are clear about what we stated.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: It kept prices artificially high. If one examines the countries which had an equivalent to the restrictions of the groceries order, prices increased by 30% over the ten year period——

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: ——whereas in those countries with no restrictions, prices only increased by13%. Our food prices increased by three times that of the UK.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The bottom line is that we removed a barrier to competition——

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: ——and that was the right thing to do. The Deputy's colleague, Deputy Bruton, was an advocate of removing the groceries order for a long period.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: Deputy Hogan is trying to play the electoral game with one foot in one camp and the other foot in another camp.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: He does not know where he is on the issue.

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: Which action? Is Deputy Hogan serious?

Grocery Industry. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: That is illogical.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I recognise that escalating oil prices affect the cost structure of all sectors of the economy, including household budgets. At approximately $73 a barrel, the price of oil on international markets is now at historically high nominal levels. No oil user, whether industrial, commercial or personal, is immune from the impact of higher prices. Neither do we have any influence over international...

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: That is overly simplistic. There is absolutely no guarantee that any move on that front would find its way back to the consumer.

Oil Prices. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: It could not be enforced, and the Deputy should not try to pretend it could.