Results 621-640 of 951 for speaker:Garret Ahearn

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Mr. Godfrey does not know who does.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I thank the witness.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Sarah Collins had an article on the front page of the Irish Independentthis morning about how fuel and heating costs are expected to reach a 40-year record high. Is that how the commission sees it in terms of fuel costs for this year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Does the commission expect the price of fuel to keep increasing throughout the year? Deputy Bruton was talking about the average price at the moment for Ireland. I randomly picked a day after the Government had put in the 15 cent cut in fuel prices. Our average for that day was €1.85 while the European average was €1.86 and the world average fuel price was €1.05. The...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Mr. Godfrey mentioned crude oil. The argument is always made that increases in crude oil reflect the increases in petrol and diesel for obvious reasons. One would think then that the graph per year would always be the same. In 2008, however, the price of crude oil was way higher than it is now but diesel and petrol were cheaper. Why was that the case? The price of crude oil at the moment...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: When the commission looks at complaints about prices, I assume the price of crude oil is what it looks at first. However, if it has been the case previously that the price of crude oil increased dramatically but the price at the pumps did not, it seems to be an outlier.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Most petrol stations and companies involved in diesel and petrol work off pretty tight margins, unless they are putting crazy prices up. They want people to come into the petrol station to buy other products. Hedging is popular within petrol stations. What percentage of businesses have a set price, essentially, for their diesel or petrol?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Would Mr. Godfrey agree that if companies buy in bulk or buy for a set price for a period of time, an increase in prices should not have an effect on those companies? When there is an increase in the price of crude oil, the price at the petrol pumps goes up straight away but when there is a decrease it takes ages for the price to fall. Companies that are trying to run their business well...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: How many times has the CCPC sent a file to the DPP based on those complaints? I am referring to complaints on fuel pricing and nothing else. I am asking for a percentage. If there were, for example, ten complaints on fuel pricing a year or if there were suspicious acts within companies with regard to------

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: How many times has that been done?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I am not asking about insurance but just fuel pricing.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: There has been nothing in terms of the price of fuel. If I make a complaint about the price of fuel at the pump, the CCPC will not deal with the actual price because that is independently set. It investigates whether the supplier is acting incorrectly or colluding with other groups. No prosecution has ever been brought in that regard. A file has never been sent to the DPP in respect of...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Yes, I am asking about petrol stations and fuel prices.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: The CCPC has never had any evidence of that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: While asking people to make complaints, the CCPC has never found evidence of anything.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: The CCPC has never found evidence, however. Has it never found it because it does not exist or can it just not find it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: There has never been any evidence of collusion, however.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: There is just no way that is the case. It must be that the CCPC cannot find the evidence because it does not have the necessary powers or that it is just not doing its job correctly, although I doubt that is the case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Fuel Costs: Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (23 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: Mr. Godfrey has spoken about people having choice. He is correct that people have choice but Deputy Paul Murphy has a point. If I wanted to buy a shirt, I could buy it in my home town of Clonmel, in Donegal or in Dublin depending on price. Most people like me fill up the car when the fuel gauge light comes on. As I can only travel a limited distance, I cannot look at the price in Donegal...

Seanad: An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business (10 Mar 2022)

Garret Ahearn: I will follow on from some of the previous contributors' comments on the announcement yesterday on the cut in fuel costs, including diesel prices. While it is welcome, it is utterly pointless if we have petrol stations around the country increasing their prices by the amount by which we are reducing them. I have had phone calls from people in Tipperary who saw those increases happen within...