The chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland has called on consumers to complain loudly over the prices they are being charged for food.
Mr Dermott Jewell was speaking yesterday against the background of denials by both the retail supermarkets and the butchers that they were overcharging for lamb,which has jumped by as much as 60 per cent in some outlets.
He said consumers were not vocal enough about the rising cost of lamb and other foods. He thought it was time to have a Minister for Food who was not attached to the Department of Agriculture.
The high prices for lamb have been driven by the foot-and-mouth crisis in Britain, during which millions of ewes were slaughtered. This has created an international shortfall, with Britain a major player with 40 million animals, making it the largest sheepmeat-exporting country in the northern hemisphere.
Irish producers have increased their share of the French and other mainland European markets,which has sent the prices soaring from a high of €76.18 for a lamb this time last year to nearly €140 now. Consumers are being asked to pay up to €34.28 for a leg of lamb and up to €7 for loin chops, which could be bought for €1.50 less this time last year.
A spokeswoman for Tesco said the company was not making any more money on lamb this year. "The price of lamb being paid to the producer and processor has increased by around 40 per cent and that is being reflected in our prices," she said.
The company, which controls 24 per cent of the retail market here, would prefer if lamb prices were cheaper but that could not be done because of market realities.
Mr John Molloy, of the Craft Butchers Association of Ireland, said the price his members had to pay for lamb dictated shop prices.
"There has been a fairly dramatic fall-off in the consumption of lamb because of the price and I know that in my own business in Ennis, we are carrying only half the normal stock for this time of year," he said. The independent retail butchers were still selling lamb cheaper than the supermarkets. A recent survey he had carried out indicated that the average price in butcher's shop was €16.71 per kilo compared with the supermarket price of €19.20.
Mr John Deegan, vice-president of the Irish Cattle and Sheepowners Association, said both the consumer and farmer were being "ripped off" by the supermarkets and butchers. "I have never been able to work out why the price of two legs of a lamb on a butcher's block costs nearly as much as I get for the entire beast," he said.
"I accept that we are getting a decent price for lambs and ewes now but that in no way reflects the prices being charged to consumers."