Warning over price hikes' impact on quality of life

The rising cost of health care, education, food and other basic provisions is eroding people’s quality of life, it was warned today.

CSO figures show inflation peaked at 4.8% in February – its highest rate in four months – with food prices jumping more than 8%, health 5.7%, education 5.9% and electricity 12% in the last year.

Trade unions Ictu and Siptu said many people could no longer cope with the continued price hikes while opposition politicians hit out at the government’s handling of the economy.

“The renewed rise in inflation is extremely worrying, especially as the greatest increases affected health and food costs,” Siptu General Secretary Joe O’Flynn said.

“These increases impact hardest on people with low to middle incomes, especially working families with children.”

His comments were echoed by Ictu economic adviser Paul Sweeney who said the public could no longer budget for constant monthly price increases for basic commodities.

“Food and fuel products account for 20 percent of average consumer spending,” he said.

“And these price rises impact disproportionately on those on lower incomes. People simply do not have the capacity to absorb these continued and continuing increases, month after month.

“There are only so many cutbacks a family budget can take,” he said.

The CSO figures reveal February’s inflation rate jumped from 4.3% in January and was the highest rate since November when it peaked at 5%.

Households are now being forced to pay 7% more for milk than the same period last year and 12% more for gas, electricity and heating.

Labour’s Consumer Affairs spokesman Senator Brendan Ryan branded the figures worrying.

“It seems that inflation is heading back towards 5% and may go even higher, given the current record price for a barrel of oil and warnings of further price rises for many basic foodstuffs,” he said.

“The continuing upward drift in prices of foodstuffs 8.5% over the past year is particularly worrying as this impacts most severely on low income families.”

Fine Gael Finance spokesman Richard Bruton berated Minister Brian Cowen for what he called his sloppy handling of the economy.

“Hopes that inflation was on its way down have been dashed by the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office.

“Brian Cowen’s sloppy economic management has exposed Ireland to the risk of stagflation, a lethal combination of a stagnant economy and rising inflation,” he said.