Ms Evelyn Jones:

I can give an example. In its latest offering, dated 5 November, Tesco offers two litres of spirits for €40. In other words, one can buy two litre bottles of vodka, rum, gin and so on, for €40, or €20 for a litre. The duty on that is €12.45 and the VAT is €2.87. That leaves €3.80 for the guy in Sweden to pick the winter wheat for the Absolut vodka, bring it in, distil it, box it, ship it through customs, send it to Ireland, give it to a wholesaler, sell it to a multiple and for the multiple to take it out of the box and put it on the shelf. To argue that below cost selling is not taking place is a farce.