asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the number of firms exempted from seeking the approval of the National Prices Commission in respect of price increases on the sale of their commodities since March, 1973; and the number of firms that must apply, at present, for permission to increase prices.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Price Increases.
38.
Details of the practice in exempting firms from seeking approval for price increases are set out in the various monthly reports of the National Prices Commission, in particular in the report for April, 1974, which contained recommendations for new exemptions that I accepted. These reports are available in the Oireachtas Library and are also circulated to each Deputy. Having regard to the practice as described in the report for April, 1974, it would not be possible to give the number of firms so exempted.
With regard to the second part of the Deputy's question, the position is that all manufacturers and persons rendering services or carrying out work or processes, other than those exempted from detailed price control, are obliged to give me two months' notice before making any increase in prices or charges. The Deputy will appreciate that it would not be possible to give the number of firms that must apply for permission to increase prices or charges.
I am amazed at the answer. I am sure the Department must have this information.
Will the Deputy ask a question, please?
Could the Minister tell me are there more firms exempt than have to apply?
I cannot answer the second part, which is a factual part. My reply is not an evasive one; it is a serious reply which would not seem so strange to the Deputy if he read the section referred to of the NPC report for April, 1974, because completely exempt firms are listed there. There are firms producing transportable goods which employ not more than 20 people. All laundries, launderettes, washeterias, dry cleaning establishments; tuition fees and boarding charges for primary and post-primary pupils; restaurants, cafes, fish and chip shops and other take-away food shops employing not more than ten people. These are only some of the categories. When you start trying to count categories, there is no such count of such categories in the possession of the State that would enable one to give an answer.
I thought there might be something in the number of firms who actually applied last year as compared with this year.
The Deputy is not asking a question.
I can only reply that the sort of detailed count that the Deputy wants does not exist. It would cost a great deal of money and a good deal of time to obtain that material, which I do not think would be warranted. A good deal of information is, in fact, contained in the NPC reports which come out every month, which are very voluminous and which are in the Oireachtas Library.