A consumer expert has said children may 'go to bed hungry' if retailers fail to swiftly cut grocery costs.
Retailers such as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl have agreed to reduce prices in stores following a meeting in the Dail earlier this week. Supermarkets have been accused of ramping up prices in recent times despite the ongoing cost of living crisis.
Chairperson of the Consumer Association of Ireland Michael Kilcoyne hit out at the six week timeframe allocated for price reductions to certain retailers. He accused supermarkets of taking advantage of struggling consumers as living costs soar.
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Mr Kilcoyne told the Irish Mirror: "The supermarkets are being greedy because they’ve been allowed to be greedy. These supermarkets are there to make profits and they don’t care if they’re taking it off the old-aged pensioner, a person in a wheelchair, or the guy with lots of money."
Mr Kilcoyne also disagreed that retailers were engaging in a "price war" in recent times but were instead merely matching each others prices. He called for the government to take decisive action and alleviate the pressures on cash-strapped shoppers.
He added: "A price war is when some guy cuts something by 50c and the next one comes along and cuts it by €1 - that’s a price, these are just engaged in price matching. It’s gone off the rails … I don’t think the Government has taken a tough enough line at all."
Sinn Fein's Louise O'Reilly previously suggested that grocery bills could go up by €1200 annually if prices weren't slashed. Retailers such as Tesco and Aldi have already agreed to reduce bread costs by 10 percent, while butter's market value has also dropped.
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