asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state (a) when an application by the Dublin Gas Company for an increase in the price of coke was heard by the Prices Advisory Body, (b) why the application was heard in private, (c) what was the amount of the increase demanded and (d) the increases in the costs of production on which the application was based.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Increased Coke Prices.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will withdraw his approval for an increase of 10/- per ton in the price of coke until it has been established by public inquiry that the increase is justified.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose taking Questions Nos. 19 and 20 together.
On 6th January, 1956, the Prices Advisory Body examined a proposal by the Alliance and Dublin Consumers' Gas Company, Limited, about an increase in their coke prices. As the affairs of this company, including the company's prices for coke and other by-products, had been examined in public on two occasions in 1955, the Advisory Body considered that a further public inquiry would not serve any useful purpose. The amount of the increase proposed by the company was 10/- per ton, the need for which was due partly to higher freight rates and partly to the use of higher-priced coal screenings by the company for technical reasons. The company estimate that the price increase of 10/- per ton will cover only about two-thirds of the additional production costs under these headings.
The Prices Advisory Body recommended that the proposed increase be approved and I accepted this recommendation. As I am in agreement with the view of the Advisory Body that a further public inquiry into the affairs of the company would not be warranted at this stage, I am not prepared to withdraw my approval of the increase.
Is the Minister aware that the inquiry referred to by the Minister dealt with the price of gas only? Coke was never mentioned, and, in view of the fact that coke is a lucrative and valuable by-product of gas, will the Minister not see that his sanction to the new price for coke is withheld, pending a further inquiry?
If the Alliance and Dublin Consumers' Gas Company, Limited, propose to increase the price of coke by 15/- a ton, the Minister has no power to prevent them.