The Competition Authority faced tough questioning in the Oireachtas yesterday over the abolishment of the Groceries Order.

Although prices of goods that were previously covered by the Groceries Order have dropped by 0.5 per cent since April this year, the overall price of groceries had remained stable, the Joint Committee on Enterprise heard yesterday from Competition Authority chairman Bill Prasifka.

This prompted one committee member to comment that Mr Prasifka's predecessor, John Fingleton, had given "false hope to consumers" by predicting annual savings in the order of €500 per household, and several members questioned why the fall in prices had not matched expectations.

Mr Prasifka insisted it was too early to evaluate fully the impact of the removal of the Groceries Order, explaining that it would not be "appropriate" to judge the full effect until the authority had completed its Groceries Monitor Project, an analysis of the groceries sector that is due to be published in June 2007.

When asked whether the abolition of the Groceries Order was linked to recent job losses and closures in the food production sector, Mr Prasifka reiterated that it was "simply too early for us to make any judgments".

Another committee member questioned the Competition Authority's independence, suggesting it had simply fallen in line with the plans of Minister for Enterprise Michéal Martin, who had been strongly in favour of abolishing the Groceries Order. Mr Prasifka responded that he could "vouch for the independence of the Competition Authority absolutely".

On being asked why the authority did not use its powers to force retailers to reveal profit levels, Mr Prasifka said it was not within the Competition Authority's mandate to publish commercially sensitive information.