Consumers urged to drive competition between stores

IRISH CONSUMERS are currently facing high prices for goods because they have been willing to pay over the odds for years, the chief executive of the National Consumer Agency (NCA) has said.

Ann Fitzgerald said the tendencies of shoppers in recent years has caused multinational stores to see Ireland as a place where they can “maximise their profits”, when they might offer leeway in some other markets.

Ms Fitzgerald told an Oireachtas committee it is up to Irish consumers to drive competition between retailers.

“Retailers are in a comfortable place where they are happy to match rather than undercut their competitors. If we move around stores with our weekly shopping baskets we will force them to compete,” she said.

Ms Fitzgerald was making a presentation to the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment on the work of the NCA since its inception in May of last year.

The organisation’s mandate is to enforce consumer protection laws, create consumer awareness through information and conduct consumer research.

Ms Fitzgerald said the NCA has been working to ensure transparency in airline pricing, product safety and to end the practice of car clocking, which is changing mileage readings before sale. She said that surveys conducted by the NCA had found very little difference, some 35 cent, in prices between big grocery retailers, who she said seem content to match each other for price.

Fine Gael TD Damien English said that following sharp price increases in fuel and food in recent months, perhaps the Government should reconsider the amount it takes in tax on consumer goods. “They’re making more money every time the prices go up,” he said.

Mr English also questioned if multinational retailers like Aldi and Lidl were offering the same value here when compared to their stores in other countries.

In response, Ms Fitzgerald said she was “stunned” when she conducted a currency conversion between the prices Lidl offered Irish consumers and those living in Britain.

She said a girl’s T-shirt and trousers on offer in the store was some 59 per cent cheaper in Britain than in Ireland.