Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

There is a list of them and they are under enormous pressure, particularly given the trade across the Border. They are keeping the show on the road. We are approaching Christmas and wholesalers have their stores and warehouses filled with drink bought at the original excise price. On the night of the budget, the Minister stated he wanted the price of drink reduced the following morning. The indications from the Revenue Commissioners were that more than likely the wholesalers would get a refund of the excise duty as happened in the 1980s when the drink was returned to the bonded warehouses and the price refunded. The small amount of money involved - between €5 million and €6 million - is an enormous amount of money to those wholesalers, who employ about 3,000 people, to keep their show on the road. If some of those wholesalers go out of business, it will affect the competitiveness of the entire industry.

I urge the Minister of State to take the necessary steps to ensure they get the refund and keep their people employed. It will cost the biggest wholesaler €1 million, while it will cost €500,000 for the second biggest wholesaler. Britvic is a British owned plc that employs 800 people in this country. I am sure the management of that company in England is wondering what is going on here, where its warehouse is full of products at a particular excise duty and the Minister for Finance asks them to reduce the price at a cost of €500,000. I am trying to impress on the Minister of State the real urgency that exists to keep people employed in this sector, which is having a difficult time.