Ireland is the most expensive place in the EU to buy a basket of food, drink and tobacco, according to figures released yesterday.
Research by the EU's Eurostat agency reveals that alcoholic drinks are more expensive here than anywhere else in the EU, while only consumers in the UK pay more for tobacco.
At 25 per cent above the average, the overall price of food and non-alcoholic beverages here is the second highest in the EU behind Denmark.
Figures for the overall survey also state that average prices for food, beverages and tobacco in Ireland are 40 per cent above the EU average.
This makes it the most expensive place in the EU to buy these goods, with only non EU members Norway (72 per cent above) and Iceland (70 per cent above) more expensive.
Alcohol is 81 per cent more expensive here than the EU average, while tobacco is 86 per cent more expensive than the EU average. Only smokers in the UK pay more for tobacco, where it is priced at 105 per cent above the average, or more than twice the average price.
The survey was conducted in the spring of 2006, across a total of 37 countries - including the 27 EU member states. It attempts to compare a typical basket of food and beverages.
It is further broken down by category to allow prices in EU member states to be compared. This reveals that the price of food in Ireland is almost a quarter above the EU average.
In the typical Irish shopping basket, bread and cereals cost 21 per cent above the EU average, meat was 29 per cent above, fish 23 per cent above and milk, cheese and eggs are 26 per cent above.
The survey also reveals that fruits and vegetables are 30 per cent above the EU average. Elsewhere, non-alcoholic beverages in Ireland cost 35 per cent above the EU average. The survey also reveals significant differences between European countries when it comes to the prices of goods.
For example, the price level of a comparable basket of food and non-alcoholic beverages was two-and-a-half times higher in the most expensive EU state, Denmark (42 per cent above average) than in the cheapest one, Bulgaria (44 per cent below average)
While there was a similar gap between prices for alcoholic beverages, price levels for tobacco were seven times higher in the most expensive EU country,the UK, than in Latvia (72 per cent below average.)
The release of the Eurostat survey yesterday prompted the Labour Party to claim that Irish consumers are being "ripped off" when it comes to food.
The party's consumer affairs spokeswoman, Kathleen Lynch TD, called on the National Consumer Agency to address the issues raised.
"We need to know why Irish consumers are facing prices for foodstuffs that are far higher than those in other EU countries where workers are earning comparable rates of pay," she said.
"The Fianna Fáil Government has failed to curb inflation or to take any effective measures to protect consumers.
"We were told that the abolition of the Groceries Order [ in March 2006] would lead to lower food prices. This has not happened."