asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the reasons he granted permission for a major supermarket (details supplied) to take up an increased market share in the grocery retail industry; and the share of the total grocery trade which is controlled by multinationals; and the percentage of that share held by the various chains.
Written Answers. - Grocery Retail Industry
25.
Limerick East): In considering the proposed take-over notified to me involving the supermarket in question I had regard to the list of criteria scheduled in the Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Control) Act, 1978. These include the effect of a proposed merger or take-over on competition, on continuity of services, the interest of employees and employment in general as well as the interests of shareholders and partners in the enterprises involved and of the consumer.
In particular I had regard to the fact that the take-over entailed the acquisition of the business of a major UK-owned supermarket by a much smaller Irishowned company and that it ensured continuity of service and the maintenance of employment in the business concerned.
As regards the second part of the Deputy's question, there are no official figures available for the market shares of the total grocery trade enjoyed by the various supermarket chains at present.
I am aware that certain private surveys, based on a limited number of common grocery items purchased in a number of homes, attributed a total market share (before the take-over) of about 30 per cent to the two non-Irish supermarket groups then operating in this country. I am also advised, however, that the market share of these two groups calculated in relation to an updating of the 1981 household budget survey (carried out by the Central Statistics Office) would have amounted to around 15 per cent in 1985 terms.