The Beverage Council of Ireland (BCI) has dismissed claims by the Competition Authority that the removal of the Groceries Order would result in a saving of €500 per year for every Irish household.
The drinks body also said warned the removal of the ban on below cost selling could lead to a "free for all" in the off-licence trade.
According to the Competition Authority, getting rid of the Groceries Order would result in a total saving to all households of €577 million. However, the BCI's executive director, Bernard Murphy, said that such a saving would mean that a corresponding cost of a similar amount would be borne elsewhere.
"Does John Fingleton and the Competition Authority seriously believe, for example, that a supermarket group, controlling 20 per cent or 25 per cent of the Irish grocery market is going to forego €125 million to €145 million from its current margins and hand it over to consumers?" he asked.
"Somebody has got to pay. If there is a benefit then there will be a corresponding cost."
The BCI also warned that a further side-effect of dumping the Groceries Order could be the emergence of drink promotions in the off-licence sector, which are now banned in pubs.
"At present, price promotions such as 'Happy Hours' are banned in the on-trade, but a removal of the ban on below cost selling would result in a free-for-all promotional situation in the off-licence trade," said Mr Murphy.
Business lobby group Ibec and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) have come out in support of the order. The State's anti-poverty charities have also warned that repealing it would put families on low incomes at greater risk of food poverty. According to the charities, removing the ban on below-cost selling would force small independent retailers out of business, which many low-income families rely on for grocery shopping.
