Results 48,501-48,520 of 51,063 for speaker:Micheál Martin

Job Losses. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: On that score, the feedback from the companies I have mentioned has been positive. Some of the companies I mentioned have been established recently and the feedback has been strong in terms of their perception of the ease of establishment in Ireland, including Cork, and the availability of skills in particular. So far, so good in that respect. Broadband is a competitive issue for the country...

Competition Authority. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: The Competition Authority's budget allocation for 2006 was increased primarily to provide additional resources for the cartel enforcement division. Seven new posts were approved and a staff recruitment campaign is currently under way. This will result in a doubling of the authority's staff for investigating cartels. I expect that once the new posts are filled, the authority will be in a...

World Trade Negotiations. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I propose to take Questions Nos. 68, 72 and 75 together. The European Union is seeking a balanced and ambitious outcome across all core areas of the Doha development agenda. The EU believes this is the only way to deliver economic growth and development gains for all participants. Ireland fully supports the EU objective. The position has now been reached in the negotiations when all WTO...

World Trade Negotiations. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: Obviously, the situation is there to play for. We are clear about the development agenda. For example, at the last round, the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, accompanied the Minister for Agriculture and Food and the Minister of State with responsibility for trade, Deputy Michael Ahern, to those talks to make clear the broad-based approach we were taking. The words "balance" and...

World Trade Negotiations. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: No. There are 25 EU countries. Mr. Mandelson's task is to bring a fairly broad range of opinions into a coherent negotiating position with regard to other trading blocks. Ultimately, this issue will be resolved between the key players — the EU, the US, Brazil and a number of others. Even if they arrive at a consensus, it must to be acceptable to the wider membership of the WTO. I am not...

Health and Safety Regulations. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: It is for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Competition Authority. (17 May 2006)

Micheál Martin: I welcome the first opportunity to answer Deputy Quinn's queries on Question Time and hope we will have constructive engagement in the context of his portfolio. My attention has not been drawn specifically to this matter. However, the Competition Act 2002 prohibits anti-competitive arrangements between undertakings and the abuse of a dominant position by undertakings. The Competition...

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.