asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the average length of time that elapsed in the years 1968 and 1969 between an application for a price increase being received and a ruling being made thereon.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Price Increase Applications.
56.
Information on the lines requested by the Deputy is not readily available in my Department, but I can assure him that there is generally little delay in dealing with price applications when all the necessary supporting evidence is furnished by applicants.
Surely the Minister will agree that a Deputy is entitled to such information and, if there are delays, that this is the place where they might be discovered and we can see if they can be eradicated, if necessary?
As I have indicated, the information is not readily available, not merely because of the difficulty of the effort of computation. The Deputy may not be aware that it happens relatively often that people notify me of a proposed price increase. They are written to, with a questionnaire, and told not to implement the increase until I have had an opportunity to examine it and to give the information requested in the questionnaire which includes various documents, including accounts usually. It frequently happens at this point that they do not pursue their application but we do not know about this, may never know about it except that they do not implement it. The information requested by the Deputy would be meaningless if we computed it on the basis that he requests, in view of what I have just mentioned.
Does the Minister's reply explain to us why Cement Ltd. made a profit of £2½ million gross in the year 1968-69?
That is a separate question.
Having regard to the Deputy's contribution on the last day, when he did not like the reply I gave and said I was not replying to the question, I am just wondering. The relevance of that supplementary escapes me.
It is not relevant. I did not intend it to be relevant.
If the Deputy intends to be irrelevant I suppose it is better than the occasions when he intends to be relevant and is not.
It is an interesting question all the same.
The remaining questions will appear on tomorrow's Order Paper.