The ban preventing supermarkets selling certain foods for less than their invoice price should be upheld, the Joint Committee on Enterprise and Small Business has recommended.
In a report on the grocery sector published today, the Committee said the Groceries Order which bars the sale of goods below the invoice price - commonly known as below-cost selling - should be maintained.
It said it was the cost of running a business which needed to be addressed and called on the Government to take action.
The committee said lessons could be learned from the way that legislation was brought in to improve competition in the insurance industry last year.
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Micheal Martin, is due to make a decision on the matter after he receives the Consumer Strategy Group's report later this year.
The group is expected to recommend scrapping the Groceries Order.
Several groups, including the Competition Authority, contend that the abolition of the order would reduce prices for consumers.
But Mr Martin is said to be circumspect on the merits of scrapping the ban.
He has said in the past there is no guarantee it would actually have an impact on prices.
Today's report also recommended the cap on the size of large retail outlets should be retained.
In January the Government abolished the cap on floorspace for outlets selling durable goods in Dublin and in towns designated as gateways under the National Spatial Strategy.
At the time the Minister for Environment Mr Roche he had no plans to introduce similar measures for the grocery sector.
