Govt publishes consumer protection recommendations

The Government's Consumer Strategy Group has published its long-awaited recommendations on how to improve consumer protection in Ireland.

The group was asked to recommend measures it deemed necessary in response to public anger about rising prices and the belief that retailers used the euro changeover to rip off customers.

Many of its 100 or so proposals had already been leaked to the media, including a call for an end to the Groceries Order banning below-cost selling and the establishment of a national consumer agency.

The Government has delayed a decision on the Groceries Order, which is designed to prevent large supermarkets from putting small shops out of business.

The other measures called for in today's report include an end to limits on the number of pub licences, an increase in the number of licences granted to fruit-and-veg traders and greater regulation of transport fares.