Irish consumers ‘subsidising’ British firms over slump in sterling

The Consumers’ Association of Ireland has accused big British retailers and suppliers of short-changing householders in the Republic for failing to pass on the enormous benefits of the strong euro against sterling.

There “is no doubt” that consumers in the Republic are again being viewed as “price subsidisers” for big UK retailers after the Brexit slump in the value of sterling, the association’s policy and council adviser Dermott Jewell told the Irish Examiner.

His comments came as new CSO figures showed consumer prices fell only slightly, by 0.3%, since October 2015. That suggested some but not all of the huge rise in the value of the euro has been passed on in lower prices.