The National Consumer Agency will not be short of targets when it sets about fulfilling its mandate to advocate on behalf of consumers. The report of the Consumer Strategy Group, which was published this week and called for the establishment of the agency, has confirmed what has been obvious for some time: Irish consumers do not get good value for a whole range of basic goods and services.
While deliberately avoiding the emotive term "rip-off Ireland" the group has concluded that the high prices charged here for many goods and services cannot be explained by high costs alone.
Among the areas identified for reform by the Consumer Strategy Group are the limits on pub licences, the prescription and sale of cheap drugs and the regulation of the transport market. It has also called for the rescinding of the Groceries Order which bans the below-cost selling of packaged groceries, saying it is anti-consumer and allows retailers pocket discounts instead of passing them on to customers. The Minster for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has announced a two month public consultation on the order at the end of which he will reach a decision.
But the core recommendation of the group is the creation of the National Consumer Agency, which the Government has agreed to establish on an interim basis. It will be chaired by Anne Fitzgerald, who also chaired the Consumer Strategy Group.
The first item on Ms Fitzgerald's to-do list should be to ensure the consumer's voice is heard in the debate over the Groceries Order. The vested interests in favour of the order's retention are marshalling the well rehearsed arguments that have seen off previous attempts to rescind it. They argue that it protects small and independent retailers from predatory pricing and thus ensures competition. The supporters range from small grocers, through farmers and food manufacturers to Government back benchers.
Consumers have never argued in any coherent fashion either for or against the Groceries Order. Their silence, however, is better seen as a reflection of the weakness of the consumer lobby than any enthusiasm for a piece of legislation that puts a limit on the extent to which retailers can compete for their custom.
The National Consumer Agency will hopefully now give consumers a say in this debate and, given the uncompromising stance taken against the Groceries Order by the Consumer Strategy Group, they can be expected to argue for its abolition.
How successful they are in this regard will be an early test of how serious the Government is about putting consumers at the heart of policy-making. A defeat for the National Consumer Agency over the Groceries Order will cast doubt over the Government's commitment to reform and also the new agency's ability to push through the other recommendations which are crying out for implementation.