Government disputes claim of 10% grocery bill hike

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.

Trade Minister Michael Ahern rounded on Fine Gael for making misleading claims on the end of the Groceries Order ban on discounted prices.

Fine Gael said its own survey showed grocery prices had risen since last year despite expectations of steep falls in food bills following the end of the order.

But Mr Ahern accused Fine Gael of being dishonest in the way they had worked out their price survey, which tracked the cost of nine items and showed they had risen by 10%.

“To support their claims, Fine Gael did a very narrow survey of fresh food products and claimed that prices had risen by 10% — yet food inflation last month was in fact 1.5%.

“Indeed the fresh food goods they surveyed were never actually covered by the Groceries Order and accordingly, its abolition could not have an effect on their prices. Fresh foods were excluded from the Groceries Order because they often needed to be heavily discounted to clear from a shop while still safe to eat,” Mr Ahern said.

The Groceries Order meant stores were banned from passing on discounts they got from suppliers of certain household goods and certain other fresh produce like bread and cheese.

Critics said the order kept prices artificially high while supporters said the law stopped supermarkets from ruthlessly undercutting small shops.

Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin axed the order in March, triggering wide expectations of savings of up to €1,000 a year on grocery bills.

Mr Ahern insisted: “It is too early to make any judgement on the effect of the Groceries Order’s abolition but this must be the third different position that Fine Gael has taken on grocery prices in 12 months.

“This confirms, yet again, that the party is addicted to short-term sound-bite policies and has nothing serious to say on the future of this country. To claim that the end of the order has resulted in price increases is totally false.”

Fine Gael last night stood by its survey, saying the poll showed consumers were paying more and not less for their weekly shopping.

A spokesman said: “The abolition of the Groceries Order was supposed to result in an overall fall in food prices yet consumers throughout Ireland know they are still paying too much for their groceries.

“They will take little heart from recent comments by Minister Martin’s spokesperson that it will take 12 months for prices to come down.”