Hobbs welcomes victory for consumer power

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.

Mr Hobbs, whose hit summer show, Rip Off Republic exposed massive public opposition to the law, said he hoped the Government u-turn would lead to other concessions for hard-pressed consumers.

“The feeling at the start of the summer was that the Groceries Order wouldn’t be touched this time around,” he said.

“You had highly-organised lobbying from Ibec and RGDATA which was drowning out the voices of the Competition Authority and the Consumer Strategy Group. But then Rip Off Republic happened and it catapulted the Groceries Order into people’s living rooms I think they themselves actually accelerated the process of change from then on.”

Viewers to the show sent dozens of babies’ nappies to the Enterprise Department following a request from Mr Hobbs.

The mounting opposition to the order unsettled the Government and was a dominant issue at Fianna Fail’s pre-Dáil think-in in Cavan in September.

Mr Hobbs, who won an IFTA award last weekend for his Show Me The Money series, claimed the abolition of the order would slash 25% off the cost of three-quarters of the average shopping basket, but it wouldn’t happen overnight.

“Because the order has been in place for nearly 20 years, you need one maverick retailer to get competitive and bring the market lower,” he said.

The National Consumer Agency said the abolition would help to bring down food prices, which are currently the highest in the European Union.

Chairwoman Anne Fitzgerald said: “It is a very good news day for consumers in Ireland. It will certainly mean far more price competition, which we’ve been lacking up to now, and it will benefit in particular the poorest among us who spend most of their income on food.”

Ms Fitzgerald said she was confident there would be savings for consumers.

“We’re talking about 75% of everything we will buy when we walk into a large supermarket or small convenience store.

“It covers everything barring fresh food and vegetables, and nappies.”

Groups representing small retailers such as RGDATA have argued the abolition of the order would drive them out of business.

However, Ms Fitzgerald said she was confident that small retailers would be able to survive, given the increasing convenience needs of consumers.

“We are very fortunate in Ireland that we have a very large convenience sector. It has been embedded into the economy over the last 20 years and since we have become more time-poor, we need it more and more and we in the Consumer Agency firmly believe it will go from strength to strength,” she said.