Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the issue of inflation in grocery prices, which must be addressed. We could usefully ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, to the House to discuss this. The costs of doing business need to be kept as close as possible to minimum at this stage. It was revealed this week in a survey by Kantar that grocery prices have risen by 5% in the past year. The survey highlights price rises across a number of categories, some of which have been magnified by global price fluctuations, which I accept. However, many of them point to the fact that the cost of doing business in Ireland is a contributing factor. This relates to an issue raised yesterday by Senator Mullen. We could have a debate in this House as to how we might help to reduce costs. Some of the Dublin councils have reduced rates which is helpful. The rate of reduction is not inconsiderable in that some have reduced by 0.5% but perhaps it is time for councils throughout the country to look at ways of emulating this model. For example, meat and fish prices are up by 6.2%, bakery goods are up by 4.2% and household products are up by 5.8%. While some of these figures, such as the 16% rise in the price of vegetables, can be explained partially by external factors there is no denying the underlying trend. I call on the Leader to arrange a debate along the lines of the debate we had on job creation.