Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Food prices and the price of basic groceries are continuing to rise, putting serious strain on households trying to afford just the bare necessities of life. We are seeing price reductions that are not being passed on to consumers. We are seeing profit margins for big retailers increasing and the Minister's retail forum last week was utterly toothless. It did not give retailers any reason to lower prices.

Yesterday, my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Nash, launched draft legislation on excessive pricing which seeks to give greater transparency to the pricing process. It would empower the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, to undertake an analysis of price setting and could require retailers to provide information on pricing. This would be a meaningful step towards correcting the power imbalance that exists between consumers on the one hand and retailers on the other. We see a pricing market that is deeply unfair currently to consumers. If companies are choosing to profit at customers' expense, that should be known. Will the Minister support our legislation when we bring it forward in this House and will he appeal to his Government colleagues to do the same?

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