A survey on drink prices shows the "large majority" of Dublin city centre pubs have not yet passed on a June 1st price rise by drinks group Diageo, Fine Gael has claimed.
Fine Gael's spokesman on enterprise, trade and employment Mr Phil Hogan said the party carried out a survey on May 28th and again on June 9th on the price of a pint of lager.
"The good news for customers is that just two of the pubs in our survey had increased the price of the pint in light of the Diageo price increase. Judge Roy Beans increased the price by 15 cent, while Ba Mizu added 10 cent to the price of the pint of lager," he claimed.
Mr Hogan said the "bad news" for customers is that the price of a pint of beer ranges from a low of €4.10 in The Duke on Duke Street to €5 around the corner on Dawson Street.
"One might expect some variation from location to location but a price differential of 22 per cent for the exact same product from retailers just metres apart is remarkable," he said.
"While most pubs seem to be holding a line in terms of the recent price increases the fact remains that the prices being charged are still massively inflated, huge mark-ups still exist and the customer ends up paying, on average, €4.45 for a pint of beer in the city centre. The pint drinkers in Dublin have largely been saved the cost of the recent wholesalers' price increase, but it remains a small victory in the overall context of the prices being a charged across a range of soft drinks, mixers, beers and spirits," Mr Hogan said.
Fine Gael began a campaign and launched a website earlier this year to expose what it claims are a series of consumer "rip-offs" in areas such as drink prices, housing, phone bills and insurance.