The chairwoman of the Consumer Strategy Group (CSG) has called for a compromise on the question of abolishing the Groceries Order to give both consumers and retailers a "fair deal".
Ann Fitzgerald suggested that the best way of "moving the Groceries Order forward" was to ensure that there was transparency of prices, and that consumers were able to avail of discounts which retailers had been getting, while protecting retailers from predatory pricing.
She was speaking yesterday at an Oireachtas committee meeting at which a number of TDs and Senators expressed strong opposition to the recent CSG recommendation that the Groceries Order be abolished.
Batt O'Keeffe TD (FF) said the abolition of the order would "make the rich richer and the poor poorer", as well as driving indigenous retailers out of business.
"We would have an influx of foreigners in this country, destroying both the agricultural and the retail sectors," he said.
Deputy Phil Hogan (FG) said there was no evidence to show that abolishing the order would lead to "sustainable lower prices", adding that the CSG's findings had been based on "flawed" statistics - an accusation backed after the meeting by the retail group RGDATA.
Senator Terry Leyden (FF) questioned the need for a new National Consumer Agency, whose interim board is to be chaired by Ms Fitzgerald.
The Senator said the agency - which was recommended by the CSG - would be established at an "enormous cost" to the taxpayer despite the fact that its job could be done by the Consumers' Association of Ireland (CAI), if the voluntary body was properly resourced.
However, Ms Fitzgerald said that expecting the CAI to do the work of the new agency "would be like expecting St Vincent de Paul to do the job of the Department of Social Welfare".
She stood over the CSG's claims that the Groceries Order - which prohibits retailers from selling below wholesale invoice prices - was contributing to "some of the high price levels" for products in the Republic.
Such prices impacted heavily on low-income families, who spent more of their money on food and household necessities, she said.
As for the retail trade, she said the traditional corner shop was continuing to decline, but it was being replaced by Spar, Centra and SuperValu, and that these would not disappear with the abolition of the Groceries Order.
She conceded, however, that there was a threat of large multiples trying to put small retailers out of business, particularly in rural areas, and that this could be taken into account in any revision of the order "so we end up with a good wording".
She said: "We all, at the end of the day, want the same thing."
Minister for Enterprise Micheál Martin has asked the Committee on Enterprise and Small Business to report back to him on the issue before the end of next month as part of a public consultation process on whether to abolish the Groceries Order.
