Tesco prices - Euro parity should set retail trend

THE move by Tesco to proffer price parity in the sale of clothing to Irish customers is to be warmly welcomed. Irish shoppers were being ripped off in being asked to pay a price in euro that was considerably higher than the sterling equivalent that consumers were paying in Britain.

Retailers have been treating consumers with contempt by marking up prices well beyond appropriate equivalent. This was used as a licence to screw the Irish consumer.

Clothes that cost £30 in Britain or Northern Ireland often cost as much as e45 in the Republic. Now Irish buyers will be paying the same numerical price in euro that the British are paying in sterling. This means that Irish shoppers will be effectively be able to buy clothes at 7% cheaper in the Republic than in Britain or Northern Ireland.