Retailers are calling on the Government to roll out a major information campaign before sounding the death knell of 1c and 2c coins in order to reassure consumers they are not being ripped off.

The new operators of the National Lottery are to appear before the Oireachtas finance committee next Wednesday to face a grilling from retailers and politicians about serious technical glitches in the system since the takeover.

The National Lottery is to undergo a significant facelift as its new owners swap the yellow ticket slips for green, allow shops to cash larger amounts of money and revamp scratch card designs.

Retailers have come under pressure to remove a surcharge of up to 50c imposed on customers topping up their pay-as- you-go electricity and gas cards.

Below-cost selling and the rise of the discounters is hitting family retailers hard, writes Kyran FitzGerald.

Violent crime targeting local family-owned shops and supermarkets has almost trebled in the past year.

RGData has called for a levy to be imposed on the operators of out-of-town shopping centres as a way of ending the practice of free parking and maintaining fairer competition for town centre retailers.

Small grocery operators are calling for a levy on shops and supermarkets operating outside town centres.

Independent grocers’ group RGData has called on the Government to lift the “veil of secrecy” from the profits made by large multiple retailers.

Hundreds of shops could be forced to close unless punitive parking restrictions in town centres are relaxed, according to a group representing independent grocers nationwide.

Shopkeepers have expressed concern that the proposed sale of the National Lottery licence will have a negative impact on their business unless the Government provides safeguards to protect their revenue.

Shop owners have accused An Post of acting like “corporate bullies” over its recent decision to restrict the sale of stamps to retailers.

Employers and trade unions have clashed over whether or not the abolition of wage-setting mechanisms through the courts has led to an increase in the number of workers hired by businesses.

GOVERNMENT plans to force employers to pay the first four weeks of staff sick pay will apply to public sector bosses as well as those in the private sector.

A MAN accused of threatening to stab an RTÉ journalist outside his home has had all charges against him dropped by the state.

A man accused of threatening to stab RTE journalist Fergal Keane outside his home has had all charges against him dropped by the State.

TESCO and other major multiples have been urged to clarify their policies in relation to price promotions so that consumers can be sure they are getting real value.

PLANNERS in Ennis are scratching their heads as to why a well-known developer has lodged two almost identical applications for a €40 million retail park.

ENNIS Town Council has put on hold contentious plans for a €40 million retail park.

BUSINESS associations along with independent traders’ body, RGDATA, and An Taisce are opposing plans for a €40 million retail park on the outskirts of Clare’s county town.

RED tape-entangled grocery shop owners want their 17 annual visits by inspectors grouped together to save time and their 21 licensing fees reduced by 15%.

THE Enterprise Minister is coming under pressure to force the big supermarket chains to open up their books and reveal their profits.

THE Tánaiste has rejected claims that border traders are “being strangled” by government policies.

A GALWAY County Councillor is among 33 traders named and shamed for breaching consumer laws in a list published by the National Consumer Agency (NCA) yesterday.

REPRESENTATIVES for shopkeepers have accused Newspread and Eason of behaving like “corporate thugs” over new charges and conditions imposed on newsagents and retailers selling their products.

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.

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 new National Consumer Agency (NCA) breached broadcasting laws by running a radio advertisement on below-cost selling which tried to influence public opinion.

ISME, the representative body of small business yesterday roundly condemned the Government’s decision to rescind the Groceries Order that bans below cost selling.

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.

Ed Carty, Ian Guider and Gordon Deegan

Mary Dundon, Political Reporter

FREE markets are not the answer to all our problems.

The Government tonight denied that lifting its cap on retail superstores will create ghost towns and cause traffic chaos around Ireland.

RGDATA, the organisation representing the independent retail grocery sector in Ireland, yesterday urged Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dick Roche TD, not to allow one vested interest to steamroll a change to the Retail Planning Guidelines.

The Minister for the Environment Dick Roche is to publish proposals which would allow Swedish furniture store IKEA to open its first outlet in Ireland.

RGDATA, the representative association for 4,500 independent grocers today told an Oireachtas committee that food prices would fall if the high cost of doing business in Ireland is tackled.

THE big supermarket owners will be called before a powerful Oireachtas committee next month to explain why Irish consumers are being ripped off.

RGDATA, the representative organisation for independent grocers, has rejected retail recommendations in the National Competitiveness Council Report published today.

RGDATA, the organisation representing Ireland's independent retail grocery sector, has condemned Vodafone’s plans to impose further cuts in retail margins.

The cost of private health insurance is going up. The Minister for Health Micheal Martin is granting an 18% increase in premiums to the Voluntary Health Insurance group from September 1.

THE Consumers Association of Ireland yesterday urged Health Minister Micheál Martin to block a proposed 18% hike in VHI health insurance costs from September 1.