asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if, in view of the fact that import prices, prices of materials used in industry, and prices of imports for personal consumption have dropped appreciably over the last 18 months, he will take steps to have an inquiry instituted as a matter of urgency by a Prices Advisory Committee or some similar body in order to establish why these commodity price reductions have not been passed on to the consuming public.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Commodity Price Reductions.
The proposal made by the Deputy is, on the face of it, impracticable. Apart from this fact, however, it will be recognised that there is, and always has been, a time lag in the reaction of retail prices to changes, either upwards or downwards, in basic prices.
Is it not a fact that, due to the ineffectiveness of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act, the reductions in wholesale prices, and other such reductions, are not being passed on to consumers, and will he say that he will put some teeth into the Act?
It must be a terrible burden on the Deputy to be the only honest man in the world.