‘Consumers won’t benefit from lifting of Groceries Order’

The Beverage Council of Ireland has claimed that lifting the Groceries Order banning below cost selling would not be of any real benefit to consumers.

The council accused the Competition Authority of naïveté in its recent claim that the removal of the order would see the average household saving €500-a-year.

Speaking at the BCI's annual conference in Co Wicklow today, council president Edward McDaid said any such savings would be recouped by retailers in some other fashion.

"Does the Competition Authority serious believe for example, that a supermarket group controlling 20% or 25% of the Irish grocery market is going to forego €125m to €145m from its current margins and hand it over to consumers?" he asked.