Madam, - So the Government has finally come clean and admitted that, for the past 18 years, the Groceries Order has acted against the interests of consumers.
The Minister, Micheál Martin, says it is now time for our interests to prevail. Yahoo!
What Mr Martin is actually telling us is that, for no good reason, we have paid more than we should for basic groceries for almost two decades. And that those who spoke out against the Groceries Order were right all along. It's just taken various governments 18 years to realise it.
No wonder I, like many others, am annoyed, feel let down, not to mention poorer as a result.
Citizens have a right to expect that our Ministers will work in our best interests at all times - that is their job. They are entitled to mistakes like the rest of us, but this fiasco is a sackable offence and I for one will be handing this Government its papers when I vote at the next election.
More worrying, however, is the feeling that, if left entirely to Mr Martin and his colleagues, consumers' interests may not have prevailed for some time to come. It seems that they have become so far removed from real life that they are unable to make even simple decisions to protect our interests.
Eddie Hobbs showed how simple the decision was, and I also commend RTÉ for choosing to broadcast his programme.
In one night, Eddie swept away the jargon and the rhetoric surrounding the Groceries Order, and his programme proved to be the tipping point.
He did what one would expect a government and their advisers to do on a regular basis - he examined the issue, investigated, reviewed, and proposed necessary changes.
If we cannot trust our leaders to do the same, and to manage this economy in the way that respects the interests of the consumer, then it is seriously time for a change. So how about it, Eddie? "Minister Hobbs" has a nice ring to it! - Yours, etc,
GERALDINE MILLS, Athlone, Co Westmeath.