Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The Government recognises the financial pressure that rising grocery prices place on households across the country. Ensuring fairness, transparency, and robust competition in the retail sector is a key priority. A comprehensive framework is in place to monitor supermarket price inflation, involving several agencies and initiatives:

The CCPC is central to monitoring pricing practices and enforcing consumer protection law. Under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014, it has powers to:

• Conduct market studies and request information from businesses;
• Investigate anti-competitive behaviour and misleading pricing;
• Carry out inspections and issue compliance or enforcement notices.

These powers have been actively used, including successful enforcement actions in 2024 and 2025. The Government has also commissioned an update to the CCPC’s 2023 High-Level Analysis of the Irish Grocery Retail Sector, which previously found no evidence of market failure or excessive pricing and noted that food inflation in Ireland had been among the lowest in the EU.

My Department is progressing legislative reforms to further enhance the CCPC’s enforcement capacity. These include:

• The introduction of turnover-based fines for serious breaches of consumer law;
• Expanded tools to detect and deter anti-competitive practices such as bid-rigging.

These reforms aim to ensure proportionate and effective enforcement without imposing unnecessary burdens on compliant businesses.

The Government is also supporting public awareness campaigns and digital tools to help consumers compare prices, understand their rights, and make informed purchasing decisions. Empowering consumers with information is one of the most effective ways to promote competition and drive down prices.

As the Deputy will be aware, this is a multifaceted issue involving several agencies, some operating outside the remit of my Department.

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) provides independent and reliable data on inflation through the Consumer Price Index, tracking price changes in everyday consumer goods. The Agri-Food Regulator, established under the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023, enhances transparency in the food supply chain by collecting and publishing price data, investigating unfair trading practices, and analysing pricing and margin trends to address power imbalances. Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Ireland contributes to inflation monitoring and price stability through its role in the European System of Central Banks, supporting both domestic and EU-level monetary policy.

In summary, the Government is actively monitoring supermarket price inflation through a combination of statistical reporting, regulatory oversight, enforcement, legislative reform, and consumer empowerment. We remain committed to ensuring that the grocery sector operates fairly, transparently, and in the best interests of consumers.