Madam, - Having been in the grocery business for the past 30 years I have seen many changes, among them the demise of many of our villages. Basic groceries and petrol are no longer available in many villages in south-west Ireland. Now the small towns are under threat.
The majority of the family owned, small town supermarkets will not withstand the presence of a multiple supermarket such as Dunnes or Tesco. The multiples will take so much of the available business that only a few forecourt shops on the outskirts of towns will remain.
Why does Minister Martin wish to give the multiples this weapon of legalising below cost selling? Does anybody really believe that the Groceries Order prevents lower prices? The reality is that the multiples have no interest in reducing their profits. They will use the abolition of the Groceries Order to shuffle their prices while maintaining their profits and they have both the buying power and the financial clout to wage price wars when required in order to achieve their goal.
When the family-owned supermarkets have been annihilated the multiples will have total dominance of the market. Prices will return to normal and there will be no way back for the family owned supermarkets.
I ask the Minister to re-think the issue. The multiples see the Groceries Order as just an obstacle in their quest for total dominance of the market. Family supermarkets are a vital part of the life and fabric of our small towns. Please maintain our line of defence: the Groceries Order. - Yours, etc,
JAMES HARNETT, Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick.