An Irish parliamentary committee has called for an official study to establish the profits made by multiples in the Republic’s l7bn-plus grocery market, and which are not disclosed by the major chains, Tesco, Dunnes and Superquinn.
As part of the process, it also wants to discover the size and scale of the off-invoice discounts and rebates the multiples receive from their suppliers, which escape the scope of the groceries order ban on below-cost selling because they are not officially recorded.
In a submission to trade and enterprise minister Michael Martin, the all-party committee is recommending that the profits study be conducted by the Competition Authority and that it report within a year.
At the same time, information on the discounts would be collected from the main grocery trade suppliers by consumer affairs director Carmel Foley. In its submission, the committee, chaired by government party backbencher Donie Cassidy, calls for the benefits of all off-invoice discounts to be passed on to the consumer.
But it unanimously recommends retention of the controversial groceries order, the future of which is being considered by the minister.
According to the committee, there is no evidence that removal of the below-cost selling ban will reduce food prices. “If the ban goes, multiples will grow at the expense of specialists,” the committee says, “and the market will become more concentrated, with less competition.”
In another submission to the minister, the powerful Irish Farmers’ Association is calling for the groceries order to be amended to include fresh produce and for multiples’ margins to be investigated “to ensure a fair return for farmers”.
As part of the process, it also wants to discover the size and scale of the off-invoice discounts and rebates the multiples receive from their suppliers, which escape the scope of the groceries order ban on below-cost selling because they are not officially recorded.
In a submission to trade and enterprise minister Michael Martin, the all-party committee is recommending that the profits study be conducted by the Competition Authority and that it report within a year.
At the same time, information on the discounts would be collected from the main grocery trade suppliers by consumer affairs director Carmel Foley. In its submission, the committee, chaired by government party backbencher Donie Cassidy, calls for the benefits of all off-invoice discounts to be passed on to the consumer.
But it unanimously recommends retention of the controversial groceries order, the future of which is being considered by the minister.
According to the committee, there is no evidence that removal of the below-cost selling ban will reduce food prices. “If the ban goes, multiples will grow at the expense of specialists,” the committee says, “and the market will become more concentrated, with less competition.”
In another submission to the minister, the powerful Irish Farmers’ Association is calling for the groceries order to be amended to include fresh produce and for multiples’ margins to be investigated “to ensure a fair return for farmers”.
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