Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The high cost of doing business in Ireland is extremely challenging. We can see that each week in our shopping bills. I selected basic shopping bills from trolleys over seven years and noted that, surprisingly, the basic prices of milk, eggs, bread and butter have increased by 15% and those of vegetables and meat have gone up by 40%. This highlights to me the issues of farmers' inputs, their daily high feed and fuel costs and the high cost of fertiliser. Despite these, they are getting for their produce the same prices they got seven years ago. They have been completely beaten down to the extent that they are even leaving the land in their droves.

Inflation in the grocery trade is influenced by factors such as supply and demand, input costs, Government policy, the retailers, food producers, and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, whose function is to protect the interests and welfare of consumers. An agrifood regulator is to be appointed. When are the regulators going to step up and protect us? Every family today faces increasing costs.

With the green agenda in place, farmers have been put on their knees. All those shopping for their families for survival have been put on their knees. The Government is considering increasing fuel taxes again coming up to harvest season. Again, when the suppliers are supplying us to feed us, the Government is raising the taxes. The only body with money in the coffers at the moment is the Government but it is not protecting the people who are trying to feed their families every single day. All it is doing is taxing them out of existence.

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