John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Mr. O'Connor is right. It would be interesting to drill down into this. An Indian friend of mine is one of the hardest-working people I have ever come across. He has worked really hard. He opened an Indian restaurant in Deputy Boyd Barrett's area between Monkstown and Dún Laoghaire. He opened a second restaurant in Sandyford just before the Covid pandemic. He has managed to keep them both going. The man in question told me that a 15 kg tin of tomatoes was €9 before Christmas and now costs €18. A tray of fresh chicken from his supplier used to cost €43 or €44 but he got it discounted to €38 because he was a regular purchaser. It now costs €83 or €84, discounted to €78. He has also been affected by the cost of petrol and diesel. This is because he does a lot of deliveries for people who order takeaways.

I asked him if he was planning on increasing his prices. He told me he was waiting until September. Indian food is hot food and people tend not to come out to the restaurants so much at this time of year. It is more of a winter kind of thing in colder weather. Last week, I walked up Pembroke Road and looked at the menu in FX Buckley's. I noticed that an 8 oz fillet steak costs €42 and that a 10 oz one costs €46. FX Buckley is a good butcher, and it has a number of high-end restaurants for those who can afford to pay the prices. Those are colossal prices. My Indian friend had not passed on the cost to the consumer. If he does in September, if others are also holding back, it will be pretty substantial.

The figures I have provided are not made up; they are real figures. I was very much taken aback by what I discovered. I do not expect feedback, I am just highlighting this as something to keep an eye on. I am surprised at what Mr. O'Connor said to the effect that most of our inflation relates to energy. It is very noticeable that the price of a cup of coffee and the other bits and pieces people buy all seem to be increasing.