Martin urges supermarkets to cut prices

Other supermarkets should follow Tesco’s example in cutting prices in the wake of the Groceries Order’s abolition, it was claimed today.

Tesco today slashed the cost of 5,000 grocery items in Irish stores and promised more reductions in the months ahead.

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin, who ended the ban on below-cost selling earlier this year, today urged other retailers to bring down prices to create more competition in the sector.

“We want competition within the grocery retail sector. We hope that other supermarkets will follow suit and that this restructuring will be of benefit to consumers,” he said.

“It is a significant move by a very large player in the market and we will be interested to see how the others respond,” he added.

Mr Martin was speaking to reporters during today’s Fianna Fáil think-in at Hotel Westport in Co Mayo.

He added that he had always been very cautious about forecasting any change in prices as a result of the abolition of the Groceries Order.

“Our basic position was it was an anti-competitive measure and we had to get it off the statute books and we did that,” he said.

“I never predicted it would bring prices down because there are other factors that can affect prices like oil and energy costs.”

The average price reduction by Tesco is 4.7% and it promised that the cost of other items would not increase to compensate.

Fine Gael carried out a recent shopping basket survey which showed that the Groceries Order had not brought down prices as had been expected.

But Mr Martin today accused Opposition parties of ’trying to have it both ways’ by demanding the abolition of the Groceries Order and then complaining that prices haven’t come down.

Speaking about the lead-in to the next General Election, the Cork TD was confident that voters would choose the policies of the Fianna Fáil party when they make up their minds in 2007.

“We’re not going to be engaging in some kind of phoney war over the next couple of months. The emphasis will be very much on substance not superficial rhetoric.

“Polls come and go. We’re not going to be preoccupied with polls. The bottom line is we’re confident we can deliver our policy platform.

“We’re confident we can convey that to the people when it gets to the crunch time around next March, April or May when people will really begin to focus in on who they actually want to govern for the next five years.”

Mr Martin refused to be drawn on Fianna Fáil’s decision to hold its think-in in the constituency of Opposition leader Enda Kenny.

“Mayo is an important constituency to us. Historically we’ve always done very well in Mayo. There was a time when we had the majority of seats here,” he said.

He joked that the Government could learn lessons from the Cork senior hurling team’s failure to win three All Ireland titles in a row at Croke Park on Sunday.

“I was with the Cork team last night and my only reflection on that is we certainly have lessons to learn in terms of making sure the same doesn’t happen to ourselves when we’re going for our three-in-a-row.

“That Cork team gave wonderful joy and pleasure to people over the past four years. I’ve no doubt Fianna Fáil has done the same.”