Soc Dems scrutinise supermarkets as grocery costs rise

Government is considering “enhancing” existing laws to increase fines and make the State’s consumer watchdog more “robust” in a bid to address alleged “price gouging” by supermarkets.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise Niamh Smyth outlined the plans in response to Opposition party concerns over how the average annual cost of groceries for a household has risen by €3,000 in a year.

Speaking during a Social Democrats Dáil motion which is calling on any supermarket with an annual turnover of €10 million or more to publish full audited financial accounts, and for fines to be introduced for those that do not, party TD Jennifer Whitmore said there is clear evidence of “price gouging” taking place in the sector.

Her view was echoed by party colleague Gary Gannon, who said families across Ireland are having to choose “between eating and heating”, and fellow Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne, who said food banks have confirmed the biggest growth in people attending are those in “working families”.

Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty criticised the Government for what he said is a lack of action on the issue, saying Fine Gael minister Neale Richmond promised action on the issue while minister for enterprise in 2023, without significant changes taking place.

And similar concerns were raised by Labour TD Ged Nash, who said “if it walks, talks and acts like price gouging, it very well may be”, before saying any plans to take action without ensuring steps are taken is the equivalent of the Father Ted reference “can anything be said for another mass?”

Responding to the criticism, Ms Smyth said she and Government “acknowledges the concerns raised regarding rising costs” and accepted “food inflation has had a tangible impact”.

As such, the minister said Government is considering “enhancing” existing laws to increase fines and make the State’s consumer watchdog the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission more “robust”.

However, the minister also said that at this stage the Government cannot support the Social Democrats motion, in part because the €10m annual turnover threshold plan does not align with existing EU rules.

She said the CCPC has “advised officials that existing powers are sufficient to analyse markets, request information and take action”, and that this has taken place during “high-profile investigations” in recent years.

Supermarket data needed to determine if price gouging taking place – O’Callaghan

Acting Social Democrats leader Cian O’Callaghan said for a proper picture to determine if price gouging is taking place, it is necessary to see what is happening “across the supply chain.”

“So from after it’s [product] going from a producer or a grower, what’s happening in terms of markups, not just at the supermarket retail level.”

Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime, Mr O’Callaghan said 3.47% internationally is “reasonably high” profit for a supermarket retailer, and while it sounds like “quite a low profit margin” the industry sells large volumes and margins are tight so this figure is “reasonably high internationally”.

“And then if you’ve enough information and enough evidence then you can make informed decisions about what sort of measures you’re going to take,” he said.