Planning laws 'preventing grocery sector competition'

The chairman of the Competition Authority has told an Oireachtas committee that Irish planning laws are preventing increased competition in the grocery sector.

Bill Prafiska told the Enterprise Committee today that restrictions on the size of retail outlets were preventing more retailers from entering the Irish market.

He said these "anti-competitive" measures were one of the reasons why many people from the Republic travel to the North to make significant savings on their groceries.

He said this, in turn, was a threat to "the very sustainability of our town centres".