Nearest is dearest for Christmas shop
As a new survey showed that Ireland is the dearest country in Europe to go on a Christmas shopping spree.
Consumers’ Association of Ireland chief executive Dermott Jewell said that, until people in this country “walk away and refuse to pay the prices”, we will continue to pay more than our European neighbours for basic goods.
A typical shopping blitz in Dublin will set you back €508.51, compared to €363.81 for the same set of items in Belgium, ranked the cheapest in a league table of 21 countries compiled by consumer website PriceRunner.co.uk.
Among those found to be cheaper than Ireland are Norway, Finland and Sweden, which have a traditional reputation for high prices.
The three most expensive countries to go on a typical shopping trip in Europe are: Ireland €508.51; Cyprus €505.24; and Finland €490.30. England is seventh on the table, with the shopping basket weighing in at €456.77.
Ms Jewell said he was “not surprised, but frustrated” at the findings of the price study and pointed out that there was a significant difference between Irish prices and those in Britain.
In addition, shoppers who use credit or debit cards to pay for their purchases are also paying tax just to possess such cards.
The CAI chief encouraged shoppers to be more assertive when it comes to price. “There’s a part for consumers to play in that they either get back to the days of doing their best to try and have the price reduced, or get some other benefit given to them in association with the product. In other words, get value for money.”
Higher-than-elsewhere levels of indirect taxation are contributing to high prices, but Mr Jewell rejected past suggestions from retailers that prices reflect operating costs for businesses.
“The cost of doing business doesn’t attract as much tax as it does in other EU member states. The bottom line is that we are expensive, continue to be expensive and there’s a higher level of profit being taken than in other jurisdictions,” Mr Jewell said.
The research used the prices of a bus ticket to the shops, a coffee and a McDonalds lunch as well as a Jeffrey Archer pageturner, a Madonna CD, the Walk the Line DVD and a Sony digital camera.
As well as Belgium, Hungary and Poland are among the cheapest Christmas shopping destinations, closely followed by France and Germany.
PRICES for the items surveyed in Ireland, compared with the cheapest available in Europe, were:
* Sony Cybershot DSCT9 digital camera (€450.17 in Ireland, €302.62 in Belgium);
* A 33cl cup of takeaway coffee (€2.55 in Ireland, €0.55 in Portugal);
* The Twelfth Card by Jeffrey Archer (€10.01 in Ireland, €7.37 in Poland);
* Walk the Line DVD (€22.59 in Ireland, €11.20 in Hungary);
* A Big Mac (€3.33 in Ireland, €1.52 in Portugal);
* CD of Confessions on a Dancefloor by Madonna (€18.87 in Ireland, €10.11 in France);
* Adult bus ticket to the shops (€0.97 in Ireland, €0.33 in Lithuania).
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