Irish Examiner view: Baby formula price hikes must be examined 

Minister has the power to ask consumer watchdog to investigate and find a solution to benefit struggling families during the cost-of-living crisis

St Vincent De Paul has recorded a threefold rise in the number of families struggling to afford baby formula between 2020 and 2023. Picture: Andrew Matthews/PA 

The massive hike in the cost of baby formula in this country, while alarming in its impact on young families here, is something that should have been monitored officially in the first place and can now been easily solved.

With the St Vincent De Paul charity having recorded a threefold rise in the number of families struggling to afford baby formula between 2020 and 2023 — up to 445 — there are concerns that suppliers of the product are hiking their prices more than the increases they had seen in input costs.