Results 1,021-1,040 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin
- Departmental Appointments. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: Hear, hear.
- Consumer Strategy Group. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: Will we deal with QuestionNo. 107 on the groceries order?
- Consumer Strategy Group. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: God bless word processors. The reply is identical to the reply given the last time this question was submitted, in September. The Minister tells us again that the scope and breadth of the recommendations require a co-ordinated response from Government. God forbid there might be a joined-up response from Government. What progress has been made in establishing the high level interdepartmental...
- Consumer Strategy Group. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: How many meetings has it held?
- Consumer Strategy Group. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: I ask because the phrase "requiring interdepartmental committees to co-ordinate" normally means long-fingering something. I am heartened to hear the committee's work is complete or virtually so. Has the high level committee submitted its report to Government and when will the House have sight of the implementation procedures that will be agreed?
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: Question 107: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress made to date with regard to the public consultation process on the groceries order; when he expects to make a decision on the issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31581/05]
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: The last line has at least been changed from the standard reply. A word processor was required to change the answer this time.
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: The last answer the Minister gave the House on this issue stated that findings would be considered and recommendations would be brought to Government by the end of October. That date has come and gone. When will the Minister make the decision, and what will the decision be? The Minister has consulted widely and there were 550 submissions, so what is so difficult? The Minister's public...
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: What does that mean? In telling this House for months that the decision is coming shortly and then providing a specific date, the end of October, it is not good enough to be glib and state that it will come shortly. The livelihood of interested parties depends on this decision and it is a matter to get right. The Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business has had detailed discussions...
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: When will this happen?
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: There was no such thing.
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: Has the Minister read the reports? There are two of them.
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: When will we see a result?
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: That is the Minister's conclusion.
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: Can the Minister clarify the supplementary answer he has just given? He stated that existing legislation deals with the issue of predatory pricing. What section of the Companies Act deals with the issue of predatory pricing? Is it not a fact that one must be a dominant player and that in the grocery trade, the criteria are laid down by the courts? No one has reached the 40% threshold for...
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: As a brief and final supplementary matter, there are two reports, so I am unsure whether the Minister has read both. He has referred to a single report when there are two reports.
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: In view of the importance which the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business has attached to these matters and the fact that it has spent a great deal of time and public energy on them, will the Minister come before the joint committee with his comprehensive proposals to discuss them in advance of working out the mechanisms for a final decision? In other words, I ask him not to...
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: Under the Constitution, law is made by the Oireachtas. I know that comes as a shock to the Minister.
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: It is the Oireachtas and not the Government which makes law.
- Groceries Order. (2 Nov 2005)
Brendan Howlin: Does that mean the Minister will not come near the joint committee?