Supermarket milk price reduction tacit acceptance of gouging
Labour finance and enterprise spokesperson Ged Nash has described the move by some Irish supermarkets to reduce the price of milk as a tacit acceptance that Irish consumers are being ripped off.
Deputy Nash reiterated his call to Government to examine price caps across essential food items to help working people.
Deputy Nash said:
“We see today a race for good publicity between Irish supermarkets as they announce price reductions for milk.
“This is good news for shoppers, and it essentially confirms what I’ve been saying for weeks – price gouging is endemic throughout the grocery sector in Ireland. Government must now commit to working with the CCPC to stamp out this ‘greedflation’ once and for all.
“These big and brave supermarkets must also commit to meaningful price reductions across the range of other products that they are using to cream it in.
“Butter is up 21% year on year, eggs are up 20%, vegetables up over 10% and it’s having a huge impact on working families nationwide.
“We need to see transparency in pricing and an acknowledgement from the Government that something has to give.
“Exceptional times demand exceptional measures to protect the living standards of working people.
“A trip to the checkout is now as dreaded as a trip to the dentist.
“In the context of a Government with running surpluses into the billions, it’s time to ask where is this money going? It’s certainly not to tackle the range of crises that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have presided over in recent years – from the cost of living to the housing crisis.
“In fact, for the first time since 2013, living standards in Ireland are falling, rather than rising. Family incomes simply can’t keep pace with spiralling everyday costs. It’s not good enough that big supermarkets continue to rake it in while so many working families are forced to do without.”