Results 641-660 of 1,279 for speaker:Michael Ahern

Written Answers — Ministerial Travel: Ministerial Travel (7 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: It had been intended that I would lead a trade mission to Ukraine later this month, but unfortunately, due to a combination of factors it was not possible to finalise the necessary arrangements to facilitate this. Nevertheless, there is considerable interest among a range of Enterprise Ireland client companies in visiting the country to pursue business contacts and trade opportunities. It is...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Although Ryanair's objective is to win market share from the competition, it has not been accused of being predatory. Not all aggressive prices are predatory. Why should we assume that a supermarket that charges low prices or engages in aggressive pricing is trying to put the opposition out of business? Aggressive pricing is fair and is designed to attract customers and win market share. It...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Market share is only one criterion to be used in deciding if a firm holds sufficient power to be considered dominant. A firm with a large market share might not be considered dominant if because of other factors it is not in a position to exercise power over the market. Similarly if all the other criteria pointed to market power, a firm with a small market share might be considered dominant....

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Issues such as access and transport are just as important.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Would Deputy Howlin prefer to have one grocery store in town that charges high prices or just one grocery store that charges low prices? No doubt the Deputy would prefer the store with the low prices, as would we all.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Price is important, and let us not try to fool ourselves otherwise.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Better than that would be two stores in one town, one at either end of the street competing aggressively with each other and offering consumers real choice and value. I take issue with most of the statements by Deputies Eamon Ryan and Morgan. Deputy Eamon Ryan said the groceries order was not a major reason for the lack of competition in the market. No matter how often the Deputy repeats that...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Some 2,500 stores went out of business and the economic evidence points to the fact that the groceries order was the major contributing factor to that demise. Can the Deputy point to even a handful of new, small and truly independent stores that opened in the same period? The order did not protect small retailers in the manner he claimed. Neither did it protect suppliers who were faced with...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Off-invoice discounts and rebates in the grocery trade did not just happen because some suppliers and retailers thought it might be a good idea. It happened because while the order allowed suppliers to have their principal terms and conditions of trade about which they had to be open and transparent, which is fine as far as it goes, it also allowed them to operate a system of supplementary...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: It is time we got real about this debate. The groceries order was insidious, anti-competitive and discriminatory legislation——

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: ——that protected certain elements in the trade from having to face up to competition. It did not protect the small, independent grocers, who were squeezed out of business by the practices encouraged and legitimised by the order. Deputy Morgan described the groceries order as a ban on below-cost selling. Even the most ardent supporters of the order admit that it was not a ban on below cost...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: ——that would stimulate competition and contribute to lower prices, they shy away from it.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: The groceries order did not work in the way it has been claimed. Replacing it with the same law under a different guise will not work. We must encourage low prices, not demonise them. We must not try to scare consumers into thinking low prices are bad for them. I was taken aback by the number of references in the debate to the report by the consumer strategy group. It was suggested more than...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Deputy McHugh devoted most of his contribution to explaining why, in his view, the strategy group's analysis of the high cost of groceries in Ireland was flawed. It is his analysis that it is flawed. Not only was the CSG report not the basis for the decision on the order, but the CSG never argued that the order should be removed because our grocery prices were higher than in other European...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: ——and they might understand better the concept of loss leading, predatory pricing and dominance, all of which are extensively examined in the report. Deputy Ó Caoláin might not have been so quick to assert that the groceries order banned predatory pricing and below cost selling. The Deputy was wrong on both counts as the order did neither. He might also have avoided stating that the...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: Deputy Lynch stated that the Competition Act does not ban predatory pricing, but that it bans unfair pricing by companies in a dominant position. If Deputy Lynch had read the report, she would know that unfair pricing by a company in a dominant position is predatory pricing. Deputy Lynch also stated that the Minister said that every household in England now lives within four kilometres of a...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: The definition of rural in this case is the 15% of the population of England who live in the most remote parts of the country. That is a far cry from claiming that 70% of towns and villages in the UK had no shop of any kind. It seems a long time ago that statistics were widely used to scare customers into believing that getting rid of the groceries order would result in a similar situation in...

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: The Deputy should be up for the Booker prize.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: A bit of light entertainment is always worthwhile after the pub.

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2005 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed). (2 Feb 2006)

Michael Ahern: We know about them.