Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)

Here are the pure, basic facts. Grocery prices have gone up 36% since 2021. That is an additional €3,000 on an average family grocery shop. It is an incredible increase and it is putting huge pressure on families. Some 71% of Irish families say they are very concerned about food prices and we have seen that four in ten parents skip meals so their children can eat. That is a national statistic - four in ten parents. This is a major problem.

I will give another fact as well. It is a clear and unfortunate fact that the Government simply does not care. The facts are there and, despite those facts and the pressures being put on people, it is refusing to do even the basics to try to stop it. The Social Democrats have put forward simple asks today. They will not cost the Government any money. We are just asking it to regulate the big profit makers a little more. That is all. We want transparency in profits. We need to know who is making these profits and on whose backs they are making them.

There are five supermarket giants in Ireland. We are not talking about small corner shops or other small retailers.

We are talking about the large supermarket giants, namely, Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and SuperValu. The grocery sector in Ireland is worth €15 billion. It is an incredibly profitable industry yet this Government refuses even to ask those supermarkets to comply with the basics by publishing their profits. Do not tell me that it is a huge administrative process for them to come up with their profits because I bet they are boasting about those profits to their shareholders every single quarter. They have that information. It is not going to take any more from them to publish it. The Government is simply refusing even to ask that of them. The Minister of State should not tell me that the Government understands, is listening, hears people's concerns and is doing everything possible. It clearly is not. We are not asking the Government to move heaven and earth to do this. We are looking for transparency and information on the supermarkets' profits.

This has been an ongoing issue for many years. All the families watching today know that because they feel those pressures in their pockets. They know what they have to sacrifice from their family budgets to put food on the table for their children. They know the difficulties it is causing for them. In 2023, the Government stated it would deal with the issue. The Minister of State at the time, Deputy Richmond, talked very tough. He brought in representatives of the supermarkets and told them to make changes. He said: "We can get prices down, particularly on the staple necessary goods. The private sector has to step up to the plate on this." That has not happened. The supermarkets are clearly ignoring the Government. We do not need the private sector to voluntarily step up to the plate. It is not going to do that. The supermarkets are making enormous profits. Why would they do anything that the Government is not asking them to do? We need the Government to step up to the plate. We need it to put in place the actions that will ensure the data is available and there is transparency so we know who is making a profit and we know exactly why prices are going up for so many families across the country. It is time for the Government to do that. Rather than coming into the Chamber and talking nicely about understanding and feeling everybody's pain, it should just do something. We are asking for simple actions and want to see movement on it.

See this speech in context