Two of the largest supermarket chains in the Republic have defended practices branded as anti-consumer by the Consumer Strategy Group (CSG).
In its report to the Government - which has not yet been published - the CSG highlights the failure of retailers to pass on to consumers the benefits of long-term discounts negotiated with suppliers.
The discounts, which can be up to 18 per cent according to the CSG, cannot be passed on because of the Groceries Order which bans the below-cost selling of most groceries. The CSG - which is mandated to advise on developing consumer policy - has called for the revoking of the order, saying it does not act in the interest of consumers.
A spokesman for Tesco Ireland, which has sales of over €2 billion, said it reinvested the discounts in the form of price cuts. "We invested €40 million in price cuts last year. All the discounts we receive are dedicated to that. They are part funded by supplier discounts with the rest coming from cost savings in the business," he said.
Superquinn, which was recently sold by its founder Senator Feargal Quinn for €450 million, also confirmed the use of long-term or off-invoice discounts. "It is a common practice. The size of the discount varies from supplier to supplier," said a spokeswoman. She said the 18 per cent figure arrived at by the CSG seemed "extremely high".
Dunnes Stores declined to comment, as did BWG - which runs the Spar franchise - and Musgraves which operate the Supervalu and Centra franchises.
Ibec, the representative organisation for business, yesterday dismissed suggestions in the CSG report that consumers are "not getting a fair deal" on the cost of food and drink in supermarkets and restaurants, and that the Groceries Order works against the consumer.
"The suggestion that people are getting a raw deal, or are being overcharged for food is not based in evidence. It is based on an assertion. People may feel they are paying too much, but that's not the evidence," Ibec sectors director Ciarán Fitzgerald said.
"We currently have negative inflation in food. That is factual, we have the lowest food inflation in Europe."
Restaurant prices were higher than in the past but, he said, workers' and consumers' wages were correspondingly higher.
The report's argument that the Groceries Order was keeping prices higher than they should be was also without factual basis, he said.