Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am aware that the Consumers' Association of Ireland compared 19 branded products in 2011 and 2013 and found there was a 12.6% increase in the cost of the basket surveyed. For the consumer price index, the Central Statistics Office surveys more than 50,000 prices taken on 632 item headings. That shows that for food and non-alcoholic beverages, prices have fallen by 6.3% since 2008. The most recent CSO figures show an increase of 1.6% for the year ending March 2013. I understand this is explained by an increase in certain commodity prices, some of which were affected by weather and energy costs.

The programme for Government contains a specific commitment to enact legislation to regulate certain restrictive anti-competitive practices in the grocery goods sector. The Government intends to give effect to this commitment by including an enabling provision in the consumer and competition Bill, which will also merge the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority, update and reform competition law on foot of a review of the operation and implementation of the Companies Act 2002, and give effect to the recommendations of the advisory group on mergers. Work on the drafting of the consumer and competition Bill is advancing and the Bill is included in the A list of the Government's current legislative programme, so we expect it to be published in this session. In addition, staffing for enforcement in competition is being strengthened by the recruitment of some new personnel.

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