Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 12 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 1

Written Answers. - Grocery Industry.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

88 Mr. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the current position in relation to below cost selling; if any such instances have been reported or brought to her attention in recent times; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21853/00]

Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Ms Harney)

The ban on below cost selling is one of the provisions of the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order, 1987. This order was the subject of one of 40 recommendations on a variety of aspects of competition and mergers legislation, the enforcement of competition law, including the groceries order, and the administration of mergers law in the final report of the competition and mergers review group which I published in May last.

On the matter of the groceries order, the majority of the review group recommended that the groceries order be repealed; any legislation or regulation introduced in relation to the grocery trade should not include a ban on below cost selling; and some form of regulation be introduced in relation to the grocery trade which would in particular require suppliers to publish the terms on which they are prepared to trade with retailers, would require retailers to honour the credit terms on which suppliers are prepared to trade with them, would ban "hello money", and would require retailers not to discriminate between classes of customers in respect of the products which they sell.

I am considering this recommendation and I will make a decision on it as soon as possible.

Since the beginning of the year the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, which has responsibility for enforcing the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order, 1987, has received 12 complaints concerning possible instances of below cost selling. The four investigations completed by the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs to date show no evidence of below cost selling.