Reaction: consumers Government, business and consumers must sit down together and work out a programme to address continuing cost-of-living increases, the Consumers Association has said.
Mr Dermot Jewell, spokesman for the association, also said customers must start complaining more about high prices. "People say there's no point complaining to the girl on the counter, but the message will start filtering back to management if enough people say they won't put up with it."
He said consumers in many respects had no choice, however. "People say it costs a lot to buy in Ireland, but more importantly it costs a lot to live. All the things - ESB, gas, healthcare, transport - that we just don't have a choice about buying, have gone up."
Though pricing and the cost of living was a complex matter, he went on, "there has got to be some element of greed" in spiralling costs. Citing pubs, he said there were "huge pubs, selling in massive bulk, making no attempt to bring their prices down".
"The Government is going to have to take a strong role in this. They and business will have to sit down with consumers and come up with some sort of agreed programme to address it."
The Small Firms Association says that unless inflation is brought down, jobs will be threatened. Mr Pat Delaney, its director,said higher costs were causing inflation, "particularly in the services sector where wage increases have a more direct impact on final prices".
Calling on the Government to "unveil its anti-inflation strategy", he blamed it for 59 per cent of inflation increases. Inflation was being driven by increases in utility costs, "such as health, education, public-sector housing, water, electricity, gas and transport."
He called on the Government to ensure faster deregulation in the non-traded sectors, greater involvement of the Director of Consumer Affairs and the Competition Authority in pricing and no further VAT or excise increases or further stealth taxes.
