As the Deputy is no doubt aware, I asked the Director of Consumer Affairs some months ago to undertake an investigation into the prices of magazines imported from the United Kingdom because of the widespread perception that the benefit of the appreciation of the Irish pound vis-à-vis sterling was not being reflected in lower cover prices.
In his report submitted last April, the director found that:
— the two main importers/distributors determined the retail prices for such magazines on the basis of a variation of a formula first agreed by the National prices Commission (NPC) in 1983.
— in contrast to the inclusion of an "uplift" of 5 per cent agreed by the National Prices Commission, to compensate for the additional costs associated with the distribution of these magazines here, the distributors had in the meantime increased the uplift to 10 per cent.
— it was no longer valid for the distributors to rely on a formula which is 13 years old, and which had not been reviewed, to justify current prices
— the operation of the complex formula operated by the distributors resulted in the retailers charging the same price, and
— newagents are given a guaranteed margin on each magazine and do not complete on price.
On receipt of the director's report, I met separately the two principal importers/distributors and with the interests representing retail newsagents. On all those occasions I invited the interests concerned to justify the current pricing arrangements, having regard to the findings of the director. In addition, I subsequently afforded them the opportunity to make written submissions to me in support of their position.