Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin has held a series of private meetings with Superquinn, the Musgrave group and some of the other big opponents of change to the Groceries Order.
The one-to-one meetings in the Minister's office came as he prepares to go to Cabinet before the end of the month with his proposal to revoke or change the order, which prohibits the below-cost selling of packaged goods.
Already under pressure from the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency to revoke the measure, the Minister heard the opposing view this week in six half-hour meetings with representatives of some of the State's biggest retailers.
In addition to Superquinn and Centra-SuperValu owner Musgraves, he met Spar owner BWG, the grocers lobby RGDATA, the big business lobby Ibec and Food and Drink Ireland, the group that represents the food industry.
Mr Martin has indicated he will the change the order with primary legislation, although it remains unclear whether he will amend it or revoke it entirely.
A representative of one of the groups that attended a meeting said he did not give any firm indication either way.
With certain political and retail industry sources now speculating that he might decide to fully revoke the order and introduce some tax-based measures to incentivise investment in non-branded groceries, those opposed to change have targeted Fianna Fáil TDs in a vigorous lobbying campaign against change. Mr Martin's department received 568 submissions on the order over the summer, many with identical wording but signed by individual grocery owners.
The opponents of change argue that its removal would ruin the fabric of small-town life by forcing the closure of corner shops as prices are driven lower by the biggest retailers.
The counter-argument suggests that consumers pay more for food than they should, with the Competition Authority saying in its submission to the Minister that the measure is costing households almost €500 a year in forgone savings.
The biggest food retailer, Tesco, is known to have called for changes to the section of the order that prevents supermarket groups from lowering the price of packaged food when it receives discounts from suppliers for buying in bulk.
Tesco finds fault with section 13 of the order that obliges wholesale suppliers to charge the same price for packaged food to all retailers, regardless of their size.
Although bigger retailers typically receive discounts on bulk purchases at the end of the year, it is illegal under the order to pass on to consumers the discounts they receive for packaged food products.
