Government has been called on to force supermarkets to slash their prices to help households struggling with soaring grocery prices during the cost of living crisis.
Labour finance spokesman, Ged Nash, is calling on the Government to use special powers that they have to place price caps on staple goods.
The powers exist in consumer legislation for ministers to act in times of crisis.
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The calls come ahead of retail reps being hauled into Government Buildings for a grilling over rip-off prices tomorrow.
Junior Minister at the Department of Enterprise, Neale Richmond, has brought forward a session of the Retail Forum, which was to be held later in June.
This meeting of stakeholders will include industry organisations such as Retail Excellence Ireland and IBEC’s Retail Ireland, as well as senior executives from the major supermarkets.
Mr Richmond said that grocery inflation is running "way ahead" of inflation generally, with reports of price gouging coming to his desk.
Mr Richmond told RTE’s Morning Ireland: “There is a lot more retailers and food distribution companies can do to bring down the cost consumers while maintaining a fair price for farmers across the country.
“We look forward to an open and frank discussion on Wednesday about this.
"This is about government working with retailers, food producers and food consumer advocacy bodies and experts to make sure the costs people pay in the supermarket trolley at the end of the week are reasonable and realistic based on declining inflation."
Mr Richmond will convene the Forum again at the end of June to see if the supermarkets have acted to reduce prices.
Labour’s Mr Nash has been raising this issue for months.
Last night he told the Irish Mirror: “There is a level of profiteering going on.
“I am pleased that finally the Government has admitted that they have weapons at their disposal, the Taoiseach admitted this to me in the Dáil last week.
“S61 and S62 of the Consumer Protection Act which can impose maximum prices on groceries in a state of emergency.
“In Greece they have done this on a basket of 50 staple goods in a week’s grocery basket and I would call the Government to do something similar here.”
Mr Nash said that retail giants are making “billions of euros” in profits in Ireland over the past number of years.
He added: “Supermarkets are profiting on the backs of cash-strapped consumers.
“It’s about time that we got watchdogs that can bark, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCCP) is not living up to its promise.
“I don’t for one second accept that supermarkets aren’t making hyper-profits off Irish consumers who are struggling to make ends meet.”
Sinn Féin enterprise spokeswoman, Louise O’Reilly, also called for action to help households.
She said: “The escalating costs now facing households across the state is completely unsustainable and something has to give. That requires government intervention.”
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