The Competition Authority must examine price fixing in the areas of supermarket meat prices and pub drink prices, according to the Consumers' Association of Ireland.
Responding to the results of a Central Statistics Office survey, which indicated that some two-thirds of goods and services analysed were more expensive in Dublin, the chairman of the association, Mr Michael Kilcoyne, said there were a "lot of questions to answer".
He was joined by Fine Gael's spokesman on trade and employment, Mr Phil Hogan, who called on the Tánaiste and the Director for Consumer Affairs to begin an inquiry into why certain consumer goods are significantly more expensive in Dublin.
"While some of these higher prices might be attributed to higher labour costs in the capital, margins as high as 32.7 per cent seem excessive.
"Only a proper investigation will reveal the extent by which the people of Dublin are the victims of even greater rip-offs than in the rest of the country."
Labour Party spokeswoman on consumer affairs, Ms Kathleen Lynch, has called for an "end to the exploitation of Dublin drinkers". She said it was time for the Government to consider price controls in the drinks trade.
"The Government has completely opted out of controlling the price of drink, and the cost of living in general.
"They are betraying Irish consumers by not taking responsibility for controlling prices."
The CSO figures showed that meat, fish and potatoes were substantially dearer in Dublin than outside the capital.
But the gap between the dearest and cheapest price for the same product across the State is far greater, the figures show, with the dearest price more than double the cheapest in some instances. This suggests that it pays for those in a position to shop around to do so.
In its first comparative study of prices in and outside Dublin, the CSO found that meat could be up to 17 per cent more expensive in Dublin, while potatoes cost up to 32 per cent more.
Average fish prices were higher in Dublin by between 3 per cent and 16.1 per cent (for smoked salmon), with whiting almost 15 per cent dearer.
The price of a whole leg of lamb across the State, however, ranged from €8.73 a kilo in the five cheapest outlets to €21.728 in the five dearest. Best back rashers could cost anything between €8.086 in the cheapest shops to €17.232 in the dearest. Cod fillets ranged in price from €13.367 a kilo in the cheapest shops to €18.616 in the dearest, and grapes ranged in price from €2.811 in the cheapest outlets to €7.127 in the dearest.
There were similar discrepancies across the State in the prices of cheddar cheese and eggs.