IRISH consumers are paying an average of 25% more for food and non-alcoholic beverages than the rest of Europe — and paying almost double for tobacco and alcohol.

Lack of competition, international energy prices and interest rate hikes are driving up Ireland’s inflation, not the Government, the Dáil heard today.

THE Competition Authority gave consumers “false hope” that grocery prices would fall, an Oireachtas committee said yesterday.

The head of the Competition Authority says it is still too early to determine if the abolition of the Groceries Order is having any real effect on retail prices.

Over 350 delegates from Londis stores throughout the country, who attended the independent retailers annual conference, heard that despite the recent abolition of the Groceries Order, the convenience market is performing strongly.

Londis retailers today announced a 62% growth in company profits in 2005.

CONSUMER champion Eddie Hobbs last night called for Dunnes shoppers to boycott the store.

The food and drink industry has said rising business costs are the reason why the abolition of the Groceries Order has not reduced prices.

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

THE Government yesterday accused Fine Gael of making misleading claims and said shoppers are facing only small rises in their grocery bills as opposed to the 10% hike claimed by the opposition.

The removal of the Groceries Order — which kept prices artificially high by preventing supermarkets passing on discounts offered by suppliers — was introduced with much expectation in March.

Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin has blamed rising oil prices for the fact that the abolition of the Groceries Order has failed to reduce food prices.

EDDIE HOBBS has been calling on consumers to email Tesco and Dunnes to demand that they reduce their prices now that the Groceries Order has been repealed.

THE Government is facing calls for an investigation into the effect of the removal of the Groceries Order, as food prices continue to rise.

A price survey published today indicates that the abolition of the Groceries Order has failed to lead to lower prices for Irish consumers.

GOVERNMENT was given a stark warning yesterday to respond to the huge pressures facing the Irish food sector.

A GOOD day for Irish consumers with the prospect of reduced grocery prices was how the National Consumer Agency described yesterday’s abolition of the Groceries Order.

THE Government last night vowed to ensure fair play between shops after the Groceries Order ban on cut-price goods was abolished. Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin has replaced the order from today with new laws to encourage competition between shops.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has signed the new Competition Act into law.

The Government was urged to establish a tough consumer watchdog today as the rate of price increases hit their highest level in almost three years.

FINE GAEL yesterday claimed the legislation replacing the Groceries Order is fatally flawed and will not force large retailers to pass on discounts to consumers.

The National Off-Licence Association has claimed the Government's removal of the ban on below-cost selling is fuelling alcohol abuse.

CLAIMS the consumer will save close to €500 a year on food bills from the abolition of the Groceries Order are seriously wide of the mark, a new study claims.

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin announced the repeal of the Groceries Order, which banned below cost selling of grocery goods.

A SUPERMARKET price slashing war could be in full swing by Christmas, Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin indicated last night.

THE Groceries Order was introduced in 1987 as a way of protecting small independent traders from being squeezed out by national chains.

THE main opposition parties last night called on Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin to clearly indicate his proposals for legislation to replace the Groceries Order.

THE abolition of the Groceries Order is a victory for consumer power over the influential lobbying of vested interests, consumer champion Eddie Hobbs claimed yesterday.

The Competition Authority has welcomed the announcement by Minister Micheál Martin that the Government intends to remove the Groceries Order.

Enterprise Minister Micheal Martin today secured the approval of the government for the eighteen year-old law Groceries Order to be repealed.

The abolition of the Groceries Order would be very good news for consumers, it was claimed today.

IRISH households will potentially save up to €1,000 each year from today’s Cabinet decision adopting Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin’s forthright recommendation to abolish the Groceries Order which bans below-cost selling.

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin is reportedly planning to take steps this week to abolish the regulations banning below-cost selling in Ireland.

The Government is set to abolish the controversial Groceries Order.

THE controversial ban on below-cost selling is set to go within weeks after its abolition was recommended in a confidential report to be presented to the Government.

The Trade Minister Micheál Martin said this afternoon that the Government was concerned consumers weren't getting value for money in a number of areas, but he told the Dáil the Government was not a price-controlling agency.

THE Coalition partners may be heading for their second row of the year, this time over the Groceries Order, which bans below-invoice cost selling.

The Progressive Democrats said this afternoon they wanted to see the Groceries Order abolished.

WHETHER or not the Groceries Order is responsible for the high cost of living here, the fact remains that Ireland is a leader in the rip-off stakes.

The Central Statistics Offices today backed grocery prices used on RTE’s controversial "Rip Off Republic" programme which Government politicians had dismissed as inaccurate.

The Competition Authority has been accused of exaggeration in a report it used to back a call for the abolition of the Groceries Order.

A CROSS-PARTY parliamentary committee is lining up for a showdown with the Competition Authority over figures the authority used to support its call for scrapping the ban on below-cost selling.