James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

The last point I will raise is grocery prices. I know it has been raised by other members here today. I am conscious that we are coming into Christmas, which is a very expensive time for households. If you speak to credit unions, they will tell you about how many people are going to them to borrow and pay for that period of time. It is something that troubles me. I commend the credit unions on the support they give families but Christmas time can leave a very heavy financial toll on families in the first quarter of the new year. We know the year-on-year changes for grocery prices. To take the multiples, the year-on-year cost increases in groceries amount to approximately 6.3%. Prices increased by 6.2% in Dunnes Stores, 7.1% in Tesco, 4.6% in SuperValu, 9.2% in Lidl, 4.1% in Aldi and 4.6% in other outlets. There have been marked increases in the price of groceries and it is putting people under a lot of pressure.

What is the CCPC's message to this committee, and to families and consumers who are under a lot of pressure, around these price hikes. Second, how comfortable is the CCPC with the new systems being implemented around loyalty programmes in supermarkets? I will single out Tesco. The Clubcard price differential on some products is extraordinary, with enormous reductions available on certain products for being a Clubcard member. There are other systems in place. Dunnes Stores has a voucher system where, if the shopping costs in excess of €50, people get €10 off. How do the witnesses feel about the roll-out of these programmes and how they are impacting on households and those who need some degree of protection from a legislative or regulatory point of view?