Fine Gael today called for the establishment of a price commission to combat the rising cost of goods and services.
Former taoiseach, Mr John Bruton, said: "The single biggest complaint that people make to me now is about the cost of living. Everything seems to be going up in price."
Mr Bruton said the "disproportionate" price increases were being caused by the Government's deliberate overheating of the economy.
He said: "This inflation is happening because the Government overheated the economy by pumping out money to win votes, while not taking parallel steps to free up the supply side of the economy, to produce the extra goods and services to meet the extra money demand."
A spokesman for the Department of Finance said his department was preparing a response.
Mr Bruton said: "On present trends, current spending at the end of this year will be up 44 per cent on just two-years ago. An extra €7,400 million will have been spent. What improvements in services can the Government point to, to justify this wild spending? None. All they can show for it is increased prices."
He called for the establishment of a price commission, with power to order legal changes, within tight time limits, "whenever it sees evidence of disproportionate price increases caused by restricted supply."
He said: "It should have the power to order price freezes, but only as a short-term measure, while steps are taken to increase supply and thus solve the underlying problem."
