Freeze your prices, Kitt urges publicans

The Minister for Consumer Affairs, Tom Kitt, has called on publicans to voluntarily freeze the price of alcohol until "at least the end of the year".

Minister Kitt said that while he does not favour the re-introduction of a Prices Order, he is concerned about recent price increases in a number of pubs and hotels, especially in the Dublin area.

He added that he is also perturbed the increases in the price of soft drinks as much as increases in the price of alcohol.

Minister Kitt was responding to last week's CPI figures, which showed alcohol price increases as constituting as much as one fifth of the rate of increase in inflation.