The ban on below-cost selling is maintaining Ireland's position as the most expensive State in the euro zone and should be abolished, the National Consumer Agency said today.
In a key submission to Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin, the recently created statutory body said consumers were losing because 75 per cent of typical household goods are covered by the order.
Citing Central Statistics Office figures, agency chairwoman Ann Fitzgerald, said inflation is 9 per cent higher on foods covered by the Groceries Order, compared to those not covered.
"The simple fact is the order is keeping prices to consumers higher than they need to be. Retaining the order only serves to help keep Ireland number one in terms of the most expensive shopping basket in the euro zone," she said.
Mr Martin ordered a consultation process amid increasing pressure on the Government over the high cost of living.
Earlier this month, the Competition Authority called for the order to be repealed, saying it would save the average household almost €500 a year. Authority chairman John Fingleton described the order as "one of the most anti-competitive and protectionist devices on the Irish statute books".
However, RGDATA, the small grocers' group, maintains the order prevents predatory pricing that would drive many of its members out of business.
It has questioned some of the figures used to support calls for ending the order, and has pointed out the detrimental effects that shop closures can have on communities.
Ms Fitzgerald today rejected those claims, however, saying "basic facts" support her case and that "there is no reason to believe that independent shops and chains will not continue to service both rural and urban communities".
RGDATA has the Irish Farmers' Association and Ibec on its side, as well as the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise and Small Business, which wants to reform the order but keep the ban on below-cost selling.