asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy if he will make a maximum price order for all brands of petrol at the lowest prevailing price, and at a still lower price in the case of self-service filling stations.

17.

asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy why maximum prices orders in respect of petrol of the same grades, vary from one company to another.

With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17 together.

The different maximum retail prices for petrol are related to wholesale prices which in turn reflect the differences in the operating costs of the companies concerned and their marketing arrangements.

In present circumstances I do not think that it would be in the interest of the consumer to make a maximum retail prices order on the lines suggested. As a result of the actions which I have taken, petrol prices in Ireland are now lower than those in the corresponding zone in Britain.

Lower than where?

The corresponding zones in Britain.

What sort of zones? In certain zones in Britain and in part of the Six Counties, petrol is 17p a gallon less than the fixed price here. Where the zone is that charges more than or as much as we do is a mystery to me. That does not really come into my consideration in this question. I am asking the Minister to ensure that the lowest justifiable price should be applied to all petrol of the same octane rating. A new overall flat order should be applied to petrol of the same octane rating, regardless of from which company it emanates. Where there is a self-service, which is a developing feature of the petrol distribution, an order should be made for a still lower price, rather than leaving the situation as it is now, with people being put out of work, large amounts of money being spent on a system where the customer does the work while the distribution and oil companies reap the benefit.

I will deal with the second part of the question first. In the conventional service station the man or boy operating the pumps normally collects the money as well. In the self-service situation there must be someone in an office collecting the money for the petrol sold. I believe there is very little difference in the overall running costs in these two systems. Regarding the other part of the Deputy's question, there are commercial and distribution practices involved which would militate against the type of order suggested.

Surely the Minister should not take into account the inefficiency of the distribution system operated by some companies. Where full self-service has replaced the old manual system, has the Minister taken into account the reduction in employment? There is no justification for this. Encouragement should not be given to people to reduce employment while the public still have to pay the same price for petrol.

That is a statement.

The Deputy can be assured that at all times we are attempting to improve the employment situation. Having examined the situation and the suggestions made by the Deputy in his question, I am satisfied that the original answer stands.

I would ask the Minister to check again the erroneous information as to the relativity between prices here and those in any zone in Britain and to reconsider the price-fixing mechanism. There is a scandalous racket in regard to petrol distribution, pricing and self-service operations.

18.