Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not know if the Deputy does the family shopping, but if he was involved and particularly if he was shopping for anybody on a specialised diet, he would know what the report overwhelmingly shows, which is that in the larger, low-cost stores the availability and cost of the foods required has changed out of all proportion. The Deputy may be thinking of the previous situation whereby such foods were often sold in chemists at extraordinarily high prices. Currently, however, if one visits a convenience store, chain store, discount shop or supermarket, one will almost always find a significant section devoted to specialised diet food, including gluten-free foodstuffs. In addition, a number of specialised bakers make gluten-free products which are now much more widely available.

The critical issue is that the cost of such items has fallen, so they are significantly cheaper. Some 75% of people in receipt of the dietary allowance are also in receipt of a pension or disability payments, so it is well within the income range.

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