Headaches for consumers as price hikes kick in
Phone bills will increase by 3% from today when Eircom's range of new charges take effect.
Punters will not find any consolation when they check their wallets either after celebrating the festive weekend.
Some publicans slapped on an extra 10 cent to the price of a pint, and most landlords are expected to follow suit in the coming days.
An additional 5 cent is being put on the price of spirits. The hike follows decisions by brewery giants Guinness, Heineken and Beamish & Crawford to increase their prices.
The latest price hikes will put further pressure on inflation which is already running at 5.1%, a three-year high.
Government hikes in VAT and excise duties announced in last December's budget added 2% to the overall inflation rate.
Compared with February, 2002, this year's figures saw major rises in clothing and footwear (up 12.5%), alcohol and tobacco (up 11.6%), education (up 10.4%), health (up 8.8%), restaurants (up 7.7%) and household furnishings (up 2.2%). Consumers have been buffeted by seemingly endless price increases since the beginning of the year.
On top of the 1% rise in the lower rate of VAT, motor tax rose by 12%, with additional increases in Vehicle Registration Tax.
Cable bills also shot up at the beginning of January, with NTL increasing their basic service charge by 9%, only weeks after their rival, Chorus, increased its charges by 15%.
The television licence increased by €43 to €150 and price hikes on bus fares, VHI, college registration fee and accident and emergency fees were also sanctioned by the Government.
Electricity bills shot up at the end of January by 13.25%. The rise is expected to add €12 to an average €90 bill.
The cost of accessing money to pay all your bills also rose. The Budget increased stamp duty on cheques from 8c to 15c, while stamp duty on credit cards rose from 19c to 40c a year.
The stamp duty on ATM cards rose from 6.25c to 10 cent, while the cost of a Laser card also rose. Earlier this month, smokers were hit with another hike, when several popular brands increased their prices by 10c.
This is on top of the 50c hike announced in the Budget.
More price hikes are also on the way as Bord Gáis prepares to charge an extra 9.1%, adding almost €7 to the typical €73 two-monthly bill.
And with war looming in Iraq, oil and petrol prices are also set to rise.
Last week, the Labour party estimated that a couple on €40,000 had lost up to €1,000 from a range of price hikes sanctioned by the Government since the Budget.
