Bacik slams Government failure to act on food price inflation

• Groceries up 20% this Christmas

Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD today raised the issue of the cost of living with An Taoiseach Micheál Martin during Leaders’ Questions in the Dáil, calling for urgent Government action to tackle soaring food prices and the pressure on working families.

Deputy Bacik said:

“Reports in The Irish Times today show that ordinary festive staples will cost 20% more this Christmas than last year. Grocery inflation is now running at roughly three times the headline rate of inflation. That is a shocking development for working families, many of whom got nothing from the government’s recent Budget.

“For those families who have already seen one-off supports taken away, whose rents and fuel bills have risen sharply, and who are struggling to make ends meet, this is devastating news. It’s not just the Christmas turkey that will come at a higher price this year. Rents are up seven per cent, house prices are up the same, and over 300,000 households are now in arrears on their electricity bills. All of this is combining to push people to make impossible choices – between heating and eating, or skipping essentials just to keep a small buffer for emergencies.

“Yet the Taoiseach’s response in the Dáil today was unacceptable. He skirted the issue and repeated the same tired talking points. There was little to no acknowledgment of just how hard it has become for ordinary people to get by.

“There is practical action that Government could take. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has already said that the Agrifood Regulator is the appropriate public body to investigate these extortionate grocery prices. My colleague, Ged Nash, asked the Minister for Agriculture nearly two months ago when he would instruct the regulator to launch an investigation. It would take nothing more than a simple Statutory Instrument to give the authority the power to act. But nothing has happened. Well, not quite nothing – prices have continued to rise.

“This Government is failing working people by refusing to take on the corporate greed that is driving many of these price hikes. There are two immediate actions that could make a real difference. First, adopt Labour’s Excessive Prices Bill, which would force supermarket giants to publish their profits and bring transparency to pricing. Second, and secondly to direct the new Agrifood Regulator to investigate how big corporates are driving up prices while their share values climb.

“Families cannot wait another winter for leadership. Labour is calling on the Government to act now – to empower regulators, to bring fairness and transparency to food pricing, and to deliver real relief for households who are at breaking point.”