Madam, - Despite the recent focus on how much more basic foodstuffs cost here than in other European countries, one point which does not appear to have been raised is the so-called tax on "luxury foods", which I believe was put in place in the early 1980s.
Aldi and Lidl are among the few supermarkets which indicate on their receipts the rate of VAT applied to each item purchased. You can imagine my surprise on finding that all seven food items I bought in Aldi last Saturday were taxed at 21 per cent, including the humble oven chip. Surely, if the Government were serious about reducing grocery prices, it could start by removing "luxury" food tax? - Yours, etc,
FRANCIS BYRNE, Patrician Villas, Stillorgan, Co Dublin.