Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I second the motion and I thank my colleague, Senator Quinn, for tabling it. To reiterate some of the points he made, this afternoon I checked the American Express holiday cost of living index on Google. The first two pages that came up showed the Thailand tourist board and the Spanish tourist board, one claiming to be the cheapest in the world and the other claiming to be the cheapest in Europe. This is a marketing issue and confirms what Senator Quinn has said.

This is an important issue to debate. Neither Senator Quinn nor I have any problem with the amendment to the motion. I ask the Minister of State to consider adding the amendment as an addendum to the motion. I do not think Senator Quinn would have the slightest difficulty with that proposal. The motion and the amendment are not contradictory. I ask the Minister of State to accept the motion just as Senator Quinn and I can accept the amendment. The motion contains no criticism of the Government. I question the wisdom of putting down an amendment to this motion. I may be missing the point and the Minister of State will inform me if I am. I ask him to consider accepting the motion.

I wish to concentrate on the positive aspects. For the past two years, the Irish rate of inflation has been in the lower end of the European scale. There has been a very marginal levelling off of 1% or 2% over the course of the past two years.

The two biggest cost factors highlighted by the survey are car rental and a restaurant meal for two. The cost of car rental is related to insurance and illustrates and reinforces the importance of getting insurance costs in line. The insurance cost for car rental in Ireland is the reason for the exorbitant price and this should be examined. I am vice-president of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board and am glad to see some improvement taking place in that area. I hope more will follow and the House will be discussing the subject next month but it will be a slow process.

The other issue is that of restaurant prices. We cannot quibble with the report because we all know that a dinner for two in Ireland is more expensive than anywhere else in Europe. We should examine the reasons for this. I will illustrate the requirements which must be fulfilled by Irish restaurateurs.

I was sitting in this seat in the House 15 years ago when the regulations for the establishment of restaurants were introduced. Senator Ross and I were on the point of being thrown out of the House because we objected to them. We regarded them as making it impossible to open a restaurant. France is the next on the list to Ireland in terms of expense. I suggest that when Members are next in France they walk into a restaurant and count the number of doors and toilets, and inspect the kitchen. I know of a young man who opened a sandwich bar recently. It had seating for fewer than ten people. He did everything by the book and complied with all the health and safety regulations. The local authority had a problem with the toilets. He explained he had installed a toilet with wheelchair access but the local authority regulations called for the provision of a staff toilet. He was forced to use some of his kitchen space to install an unnecessary toilet for the never more than three members of staff who ever worked there. He then had two spanking new toilets in a place where people stay for a few minutes at a time.

I ask the Minister of State to consider the regulations which must be complied with in order to set up a restaurant and which are all about cost. There must be a certain number of doors between the kitchen, toilet and dining areas. These regulations do not apply in most of Europe and this is an issue we should consider. We can do something about the cost of restaurant meals and car hire.

I raised an issue recently and received a lot of nasty mail as a result but I will raise it again. When I travel in Europe I always price the basic nine or ten-inch pizza margarita because it is a good indicator, like the hamburger index. I bought one in a beautiful, sit-down restaurant last week in Ireland. It was the cheapest pizza I had eaten since I was in Italy about two years ago. It cost €6.75 in a nice restaurant which was brand new, with good food and the proper ambience. This may be a sign things are changing.

People are beginning to question the prices. I was in a pub last weekend where a woman in the company called for the barman to inquire the reason for the difference in the price of a pint between one round of drinks and the next. There was a reasonable explanation given. However, it is good to see people querying prices because in the past we were not used to asking about the price of goods. As we become better off as a nation, I think we are becoming more confident about questioning prices.

For the first time in 20 years, bed and breakfast houses are facing serious competition from hotels. The costs of hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation are being driven down. I know of a hotel owner who was concerned that the hotel was not achieving full occupancy, even though it is up to scratch. He spoke to the manager who explained that the surrounding guesthouses were full every night because they were charging prices 30% cheaper than the hotel. The owner said he wanted to see the cars parked outside the hotel every night and told the manager to do whatever was needed with the price and it happened overnight.

Ireland will never become an area noted for low prices. I raised with the IFA on a number of occasions the reason Irish lamb is cheaper in France than in Ireland. The IFA could do what it threatened to do about food prices.

I recently travelled by train from Bristol to Falmouth which is a three and a half hour trip, like the journey from Dublin to Cork, which cost over €80 return, £55 sterling one way and £56 return. The following week I took a return train journey from Rosslare to Dublin and it cost €24. Train travel is a lot cheaper in Ireland than in France or in the UK but it is cheaper in Spain and Italy than in Ireland. I have been a little disjointed in my contribution but this has been deliberate. I want the House to take a close look, as Senator Quinn requested, at the issue. Even though our prices are high, they are not high in every area. We should consider what is low and what is high and take action on high prices inasmuch as we can. We should sell Ireland in terms of quality and level of service.

I second the motion and I ask the Minister of State and the Government side to consider changing the amendment to an addendum to the motion.