I want to quote for him paragraph 68 of the Commission's report.
The Paragraph says:
The Rules of the I.D.A. contain the following provisions in relation to maintenance of prices:—
Rule 12: Membership of the Association shall imply adherence to the rules, agreement to adhere strictly to the price conditions in the sale of goods and loyalty to members.
Rule 14: All prices quoted in the current price list and any alterations thereof made under Rule 25 shall be binding on all members of the Association.
Rule 16: No member of the Association shall allow any discount to any member...
Those three rules are binding on all members of the Irish Drug Association of which I am sure Deputy Loughman is a respected member, and which he says, at the same time, he is able to ignore because he can charge any price he likes. The aims and objects of the Irish Drug Association are the maintenance of the highest possible prices. There are various examples given of penal action taken against people who did not accept the price restrictions imposed by the I.D.A. It was established in 1909 "with the principal object of regulating and maintaining minimum retail prices for articles usually sold by chemists and druggists". That is a restrictive trade practice. It is price rigging, price fixing, any euphemism you like to use. As far as the consumer is concerned, as Deputy Brady says, drugs are very expensive taken in the ordinary course of events. That is one of the causes with which the Minister did not deal.
Again there is price maintenance by manufacturers. Paragraphs 63 and 64 deal with the manufacturers of a brand of medicinal salts who closed, without warning, the account of a general wholesale firm. The reason given was that he was supplying grocers who were cutting prices. Paragraph 64 says:
Seven wholesalers who were ascertained, through code marking of the products, to be supplying retailers cutting prices were asked to sign an undertaking that the product would not be re-sold at less than the list price and that they would impose a condition on retailers not to sell to the public at less than the advertised retail price. One of the wholesalers who, at first, refused to sign an undertaking did so when his supplies were stopped.
What can you call that but a restrictive practice? Manufacturers, chemists and wholesalers have ensured that there will be price fixing through this manufacturers', wholesalers' and retailers' ring. As for the retailers it was decided action would not be necessary because of the absence of any kind of price cutting amongst chemists. There is a fixed price and there is no reduction in that price no matter what chemist you go to. There is agreement to charge the one price for the same drugs and because of that the wholesalers do not have to insist on any minimum price.
The important change since 1952 referred to by the Minister is that the price list sent around by the I.D.A. is merely a suggested price list. That is true but the rules for membership of the Irish Drug Association have not changed. Rule 12 says: "Membership of the Association shall imply adherence to the rules, agreement to adhere strictly to the price conditions in the sale of goods and loyalty to members." Whatever change may appear to have taken place, in fact there has been no agreement to institute any kind of competitive pricing in relation to drugs or medicines.
Recommendations were made by the Fair Trade Commission in 1956. The Minister suggests we should have put down a broader, more sweeping resolution which would cover very much greater ground and take in very much larger interests. We put down this very restricted motion because it was based on the limited findings of a responsible commission. We would much prefer to have had our motion cover a much broader field but because it was based on the findings of this Commission we thought that these very minimal recommendations were acceptable to the Minister. It is nothing but hypocrisy for the Minister to suggest we should have covered very much more ground when he is not prepared to accept the minimal recommendations of this Commission. There is no difference between the Government side and the other side of the House.
This Commission also recommended that the coding system, one of the devices which have been used in order to tell one another what has been charged, should be abolished because dealing with the prescription side of the business it was based largely on: Think of a number and double it. As I suggested last week, the coding system should be discontinued. They made that recommendation. They also made a recommendation that toilet preparations and baby foods should not be restricted to chemists because it might lead to an increase in prices. The Commission also said in paragraph 91:
In the opinion of the commission, a collective arrangement or understanding between wholesalers relating to the prices to be charged by them is contrary to the public interest in that it involves an unncessary and unreasonable limitation of free and fair competition and, accordingly, should be prohibited.
Paragraph 92 says:
...The Commission are of opinion that, in view of the great variety of goods involved, there is justification for price lists as a guide to retail chemists, provided that, where pricing is done by a retail association, the prices are expressly stated to be suggested prices....
They go on to point out that the rules of the I.D.A. were unchanged and were binding on all members. The Minister did not answer the charges made by us that in wholesaling, retailing and manufacturing there is price rigging. The Minister cannot evade his responsibility. He says, on the one hand, he cannot touch the manufacturers. All right, he says, on the other hand, he cannot touch the retail and wholesale price maintenance, price rigging arrangements that are carried on here. He has a responsibility to see that the prices of essential drugs are brought down by introducing some limited scheme of subsidisation, subsidising for these drugs in order to remedy the present system. Once again I appeal to the Minister, in view of the very high prices of drugs to take some steps either to eliminate restrictive trade practices or introduce some scheme of subsidisation.