Vol. 398 No. 10
22 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will refer the practices of a video rental company (details supplied) to the Fair Trade Commission which is allegedly undercutting other video rental outlets and threatening jobs in them, by charging artificially deflated prices; whether this practice constitutes a form of below cost selling; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
45 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if, in view of reports (details supplied) he will introduce legislation to regulate the video rental trade with a view to ensuring that any alleged unfair practices will be ruled out.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 22 and 45 together.
A written complaint received on the subject matter of these questions was recently forwarded to the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade for his attention in the context of his responsibilities under the Restrictive Practices Acts, 1972 and 1987. Should the director find grounds for concern, which he cannot satisfactorily resolve, the legislation provides procedures for further investigation as warranted. I might add that I, of course, welcome evidence of competition where it is not unfair or an abuse of a dominant position.
Would the Minister not agree that a number of family businesses who are depending on the retail outlets to make a living have to face unfair competition from a body with a high national profile? Prices vary greatly, for instance, in Cork city videos are rented for £2.50 whereas in Mallow town they are rented for 90p. Would the Minister regard that as unfair competition?
Perhaps it could be argued that the video viewers of Mallow are very fortunate.
Somebody is making a profit somewhere.
In relation to jobs being threatened and the charging of artificially deflated prices, should not the practice of below cost selling be taken into consideration?
In something like the video market it is very hard to know what is below cost. I note that before the new competition came on the scene the ten existing shops in Mallow were, and I quote one of them, "working in harmony". It might be as well in a business such as this that not everybody in the same place "worked in harmony".
