Vol. 476 No. 2
226 Mr. Ellis asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the action, if any, he proposes to take to have the price of new cars reduced in view of the strengthening of the Irish pound by approximately 20 per cent against the major European currencies. [6585/97]
I would draw the attention of the Deputy to the fact that motor vehicles were exempted from detailed price control on the recommendation of the former National Prices Commission in April 1975.
Principal among the reasons for this exemption was the intense competition for market share, in part based on prices and partly on the technical design and performance of the various categories of motor vehicles. In the meantime there is no evidence that competition in the marketplace has declined, particularly in view now of the large diversity of suppliers and the multiplicity of car models on offer to consumers.
