Store giants can kill off small farms and shops

THE abolition of the restriction on below-cost selling is fundamentally anti- competitive. It gives the large supermarket chains almost unlimited power.

They will pressurise the farmer to produce ever more cheaply at the expense of the environment and of the rural social structure as the need for economies of scale drive smaller farms out of existence ultimately at the expense of food quality intensification means chemicalisation, make no mistake.

These multinational supermarkets with their size advantage can finally kill off local stores. The result will be dead villages and towns, like much of mainland Europe, with the same logos on every street.

Why should economists dictate policies that are primarily social in there impact? And why do we not learn from the mistakes of other countries?

The only conclusion I can draw is that the interests of big business and of big political parties are one and the same.

Jerry Crowley

Carrigower Lodge

Kilpedder

Co Wicklow