asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is aware that a certain medical product (details supplied) which is on sale in Ireland at £7.90 per 250 cc bottle is selling in England at £4.13 per bottle; and if there is any action he can take to ensure that this product will be sold here at a reasonable price.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Price of Medical Product.
37.
I have been informed by the distributors that the price of the medical product in question in this country is £7.34 per bottle, inclusive of turnover tax, and that the comparable prices in England range from £6.19 to £6.59 per bottle depending on the size of orders. If the Deputy will let me have documentary evidence of the prices quoted by him, I will have further investigations made.
Has the Minister made any effort to check on the increased prices?
That is what I have done.
From where did the Minister get his information? He says he got it from the distributors, but does he regard them as a reliable source of information in this case? Further, is he not concerned about the fantastic cost of drugs in this country at present? I put this question down to the Minister for Health because I thought it would arouse his concern but, obviously, it has been passed to the Minister for Industry and Commerce.
As I have said, I inquired from the distributors as to the costs. I repeat that, if the Deputy would let me have documentary evidence of the prices quoted by him, I shall have further investigations carried out. In the meantime I must accept what I have ascertained from the distributors in relation to prices in the United Kingdom.
May I explain that this information was given to me by people who might be placed in an awkward position if their names were to enter into this matter. I have it from a reliable source in England that this is the price in England. We know what is the price in Ireland.
If the Deputy will let me have documentary evidence I shall endeavour to ensure the protection of his people in this.
What is the purpose of having a Prices Advisory Body within the Minister's Department if they are not capable of carrying out a small investigation of this kind—an investigation that could mean so much in relation to the cost of products of this nature? Surely it should not be left to Deputy Clinton to carry out the investigation?
I have stated that, arising from investigations carried out in my Department, it was discovered that the comparable prices in England range from £6.19 to £6.59. The Deputy challenges that and, therefore, I am asking him to back up his challenge with evidence.
I am challenging it on the basis that the Minister said that this is what he got from the distributors, not from other inquiries. Does the Minister expect to get reliable information from the people who are involved in this?
I do.
Well, I do not. If that is the way the Minister conducts his inquiries it is no wonder that prices are rising.
The Deputy is asking me, with the difficult problems I have in relation to the control of prices, to arrange for my Department to start a surveillance on prices in the UK, because this is the comparison he is talking about.
Of course, because this is something which is of substantial importance to the country. That is their job.
I cannot send officials to check with retail outlets in the UK.
The Minister does not have to send officials.
Well, this is what the Deputy is——
Why not?
My officials are not entitled to go into houses in the UK just as we would object if British officials came in here checking our prices.
That is a very foolish reply.
(Interruptions.)
I have been endeavouring to give a straight reply but the Deputy is refusing to accept it.
Could I ask the Minister a question on this, as this is a medical product which is, no doubt, paid for by the ratepayers? Surely the Minister must feel under an obligation to have a satisfactory inquiry made into the discrepancy in prices for this product which is widely used in all hospital out-patient departments in Dublin? He cannot be satisfied with the inquiry he has carried out. A Deputy on reliable information states that the price of the product is almost double in Dublin compared with what it is in England. If it is more expensive over here as the Minister's figures indicate, why should it be more expensive?
Turnover tax, for one thing. This is made clear in my reply. Let me say that the Minister issues information on the advice of his Department and that is unreliable; the Deputy comes in here with information which he says he has from reliable people and that is most reliable.
Yes, because the Minister said he got his information from the distributors.
As I see it, if I have a price list for any article on sale here through any distributor, take a jam manufacturer who sends out his list to retailers, I look upon that price list as the indicative price list of the manufacturer to the distributor and subsequently——
And the British prices?
What I am working on here is the price list for the distributor.
Question No. 38.
(Interruptions.)
Have you checked it?
He cannot check it in Britain in spite of the money we spend on a trade office in Britain.
They cannot even buy a bottle of medicine.