Rip-off Ireland: Minister 'being selective'

The Small Firms Association is accusing the Minister for Consumer Affairs of being selective with the facts regarding claims that Irish consumers are being ripped off in comparison with other European consumers.

The SFA says there are many reasons why prices are higher here, including higher VAT, higher commercial rates, poor infrastructure and Government-imposed red tape.

"It’s all very well for Minister Tom Kitt to suggest that Irish consumers are being charged higher prices without giving any reasons why," said SFA director Pat Delaney.

"The Minister should look at all the facts before he suggests that monopolies and cartels are responsible for price disparity. The differences in prices can be explained by different input costs for Irish business, many of which are applied by the Government."

Meanwhile, Aer Lingus is rejecting newspaper reports which claim that its low fares offers are misleading.

The Consumers’ Association of Ireland is calling for an investigation of Aer Lingus, claiming it is almost impossible to avail of many of the cheap air fare offers from Aer Lingus.

Aer Lingus says the article was imbalanced, inaccurate and misleading. A spokesman for the airline said more than 200,000 low fare seats had been sold during January for travel up to the end of March.