Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the spirit of this amendment, which deals with an important matter, one that is a huge source of irritation to people living in this country. I understand what the Minister says, but it would be helpful if he could revisit this issue in the future.

There is no justification for some of the price differentials in this country. I have lived in both jurisdictions. The level of price differential North and South or between Ireland and the UK is unacceptable, regardless of the fact that we are a small open economy and there are higher costs of transport and so on associated with doing business in Ireland. I believe that the pricing policies being applied here differ from those applied by the same multiples in the other countries in which they do business. The fact of the matter is that many small Irish businesses have gone to the wall because of the location of one-size-fits-all multiples on the outskirts of small Irish towns. It would be helpful to the people of Ireland, in terms of openness and transparency and their knowing exactly what they are paying in reality for so-called cheaper goods, to know exactly how much money multiples are making in this country. I know that in the case of one multiple a substantial proportion of its profits are being made in the Irish market, which profits far exceed the proportionate size of its Irish interests.