Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 1 Feb 1968

Vol. 232 No. 2

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Price Increases.

175.

Mr. L'Estrange

asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will give details of the price increases approved by him since 23rd November, 1967; and the commodities and services concerned.

176.

Mr. Corish

asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will list the price increases approved by him since devaluation; the number of applications made for such increases; if he will list the commodities investigated by private and public inquiries by prices advisory bodies set up by him during the second half of 1967; the number of bodies set up since devaluation; and the number of inquiries scheduled to take place in the near future.

Mr. Colley

I propose, with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 175 and 176 together and to circulate in the Official Report a statement showing price increases of which I have been notified and to which I have raised no objection since devaluation. The statement includes increases of which I had been notified before devaluation took place.

The number of notifications received since devaluation in compliance with price control requirements was 141 and many of these are still under investigation.

The answer to each of the remaining parts of Question No. 176 is "Nil".

Following is the statement:—

STATEMENT showing price increases to which the Minister for Industry and Commerce has not objected since devaluation of the £ (18th November, 1967).

Firm	Commodity	Rate of Increase
*Smiths (Distributors) Ltd.	Renault R. 4 car	£56 11s. 0d. including
,, R.10 ,,	£64 3s. 0d. wholesale
,, R.16 ,,	£90 2s. 0d. tax
*Coal Importers	Coal	Principal Increases:
		American Coal: £1 3s. 0d. per ton
		German Coal: £1 4s. 2d. per ton
The Irish Wheelman Printing and Publishing Co. Ltd., Dublin.	Advertising Rates “Irish Builder and Engineer”,	£3 page
“Irish Chemist and Druggist”.
Cork Milk Producers Co-Op. Society Ltd.	Milk	½d. pint for 4 months in period December, 1967 to April, 1968.
Ballinahina Dairies Ltd. Cork	Milk	do.
Lamb Bros. (Dublin) Ltd.	Damson Jam	1s. 3d. doz. 1 lbs.
Irish Biscuits Ltd.	Milkchoc Goldgrain½ lb. pkts.loose	1s. 9d. (24 pkts.)1½d. lb.
	Fig Roll½ lb. pkts.looseCocoanut CreamKimberleylooseMikado	1s. 6d. (24 pkts.)1d. lb.
Irish Methyl Ltd., Cork	Methylated Spirits	From 1½d. to 1s. 1½d. per gallon depending on quantity.
Tailteann Theatres Ltd., Kells	Admission Charges	5d. and 2d.
Peter Austin (Ireland) Ltd., Cork	C. M. T. Prices for clothing	From 1s. to 12s. per garment.
*Evode Industries Ltd., Swords	Adhesives, etc.	3%
*Goodalls of Ireland Ltd.	Custard Powder	Various e.g. from 7d. to 10d. doz. on Family Drums.
*Les Modes Modernes Ltd., Galway	Ladies' Hats	4%
*Pharma-Cosma (I) Ltd., Dublin	Cosmetics	8%
*Wavin Pipes Ltd., Balbriggan	Small bore pipe and water main	About 10% (average)
R. Merrick & Sons Ltd., Cork	Iron Foundry Castings	10%
Newbridge Cutlery Co. Ltd.	Cutlery, etc.	7½%
*Killeen Paper Mills Ltd.	CorrugatedContainers etc.	7% (average).
*National Board and Paper Mills Ltd.
*Jefferson Smurfit & Sons Ltd.
Tonge & Taggart Ltd.	Cast Iron Pipe “Specials”	25% (average).
J. & L.F. Goodbody Ltd	Yarns and Twists Miscellaneous Cloths and Bags	2½% Approx.
*Seafield Fabrics Ltd.	Wide Rayon ClothsNarrow Rayon ClothsType 80 Cotton	3%2%10%
Liam Devlin & Sons Ltd., Dublin	Sweets (3 lines)	From 11d. (4 lb. box) to 1s. 4d. (6 lb. box).
*Reg Armstrong Motors Ltd.	Kadett, Rekord and Prinz cars	Various—up to a maxi mum of 14½%.
*Reg Armstrong Motorcycles Ltd.	Honda Motorcycles	Various—up to a maximum of 15½%.
Carrigaline Pottery Co. Ltd.	Earthenware	5% (average).
*I.B.M. Ireland Ltd.	Computer equipment etc. and service.	From 5% to 13%.
Inchicore Manufacturing Co. Ltd. Dublin	Nugget Shoe Polish	From 6d. to 3s. 6d. doz. (smaller sizes)7 lb. tin—3s. 2d.
Fry-Cadbury (I.) Ltd.	Sweets, chocolates, cocoa, etc. (various lines)	3% overall average (including weight adjustments).
Creation Property and Printing Ltd., Dublin	Advertising Rates“Woman's Way”“Woman's View”	15%New Rates as follows £88 page, 1 insertion £75 page, 12 insertions Colour £130.
Lemon & Co. Ltd.	Sweets (most lines)	Mostly 1d. qr. (retail) (Weight adjustments also).
*Venetian Blinds (I) Ltd., Dublin	Venetian Blinds	12½%.
May Roberts Ltd., Dublin	Drugs and Medicines	From 1d. to 6/6d. per pack.
F. H. Thompson & Son Limited, Cork.	Confectionery	2d. and 3d. per item.
Burgess Galvin & Co., Dublin	Linseed OilArbolite & Mastics	£5 ton.£4 ton.
Thomas S. Jackson & Sons Ltd., Dublin.	Linseed Oil PuttySteel Casement Putty	£4 ton.£4 ton.
M. Kelleher & Sons Ltd., Tralee	Coal	1/6d. cwt.
Purchase Facilities Ltd.	Background Music Service.	£9 p.a.
*General Textiles Ltd., Athlone	Textiles	10%.
*Volkswagen Distributors Ltd.	VW 1200VW 1600 Fastbackdo. Variant	£53 1s. 3d. per vehicle£75 11s. 2d. ,, ,,£82 15s. 10d. ,, ,,
*Kapp & Peterson Ltd.	Pipes for Smoking	Average of 12.5%.
*Blackwater Cottons Ltd.	Cotton yarns	4d. to 7¼d. per lb.
Blackwater Cottons Ltd.	Peruvian Pima Cotton yarn.	3d. lb.
*The Castleguard Textiles Co. Ltd.	Cotton yarns	8½d. lb.
*Heiton McFerron Ltd.	Dutch Anthracite	10/- ton (Retail)
P. Donnelly & Sons Ltd.
M. Doherty & Co. Ltd.
*Coal Importers—Cork and Waterford Area.	Polish Coal	7/- to 8/- ton (Retail) for freight.
*C. B. Paper Sacks Ltd.	Paper Sacks	Various (equivalent to increase in cost of raw material).
Belturbet Manufacturing Co. Ltd.	Stiffners	1/6d. per gross prs.
	Toe Puffs	1/- per gross prs.
	Insole Strip	2d. per strip.
*Morgan McMahon & Co. Ltd.	Japanese Oak Wood— Block Flooring Cheese Shooks, Mouldings.	Sufficient to recover additional import costs.
Hibernia National Review Ltd.	Advertising Rates in “Hibernia”.	From 5/- to 10/- per inch.
*General Plastics Ltd.	Electrical Accessories	7½%
*Allum Ltd., Roscommon	Aluminium ladders	12½%
Limerick Clothing Co. Ltd.	Man's 3 piece SuitMan's 2 piece Suit	13s. and 14s.12s. and 13s.
Neave's Foods, Dublin	Neave's Baby Food (16 oz.)Neave's Baby Food (5 oz.)	1s. 6d. per doz. packs6d. per doz. packs.
*Ashtown Tin Box (Ireland) Ltd.	Tin Boxes, etc.	4%
*A. Noyek & Sons Ltd.	Blockboard (gaboon mahogany)Marine Plywood	1d. sq. ft.3d. sq. ft.
*Liga (Ireland) Ltd.	Baby Food	2s. doz. pks. (retail).
*Distributors Peugeot (Ireland) Ltd.	Peugeot 404—fixed Roof—Sliding Roof—Sliding Roof, fuel injection	£70 per vehicle on£74 ,, ,, retail£87 ,, ,, Price
*Irish Aluminium Co. Ltd.	Holloware	8% average.
Regal Cinemas Ltd., Dublin, Ritz Cinema, Ballsbridge.	Admission Charges	3d. and 6d.
*Kenneth Lee Ltd.	Sewer Rods	3d. each.
John Jameson & Son Ltd.	Storage Charges for whiskey	1d. per 40 gals, per week and other storage charge increases.
John Power & Son Ltd.	Storage Charges for whiskey	do.
*Swiftbrook Paper Mills Ltd., Saggart, Co. Dublin.	Writing and Printing Papers.	1d. per lb. (average).

* Increases due solely or mainly to devaluation of £.

Mr. L'Estrange

Is the Minister aware that merchants and shopkeepers claim that every invoice they have received in the past two or three months showed increased prices? Are all these manufacturers notifying the Department of the increases?

Mr. Colley

As far as I know, they are. On odd occasions we get complaints of increases which were not notified to us and we deal with these very promptly when we get them, but the number of such complaints is quite small.

Mr. L'Estrange

Does the Minister think the number escaping the net is very small?

Mr. Colley

I can only go by the number of complaints, but I think the number escaping the net is small as far as I can see. The Deputy will be aware that we issue regularly lists of items on which increases have been authorised. If people have been making increases in prices that have not been authorised, it is relatively easy for the shopkeepers to check on this and report to the Department.