Grocery revolt

Dublin

Irish shoppers are paying more than $600 too much on groceries every year, a government agency said this week. The Competition Authority called for a repeal of the Groceries Order, a 1987 law forbidding grocers from selling anything other than meat or produce below cost. “If this logic was applied in other sectors—for example, clothes—it would make post-Christmas sales a criminal activity,” said CA director John Fingleton. The prices of covered items have increased more than 7 percent since June 2001, while prices of other items have fallen more than 4 percent. Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin recently proposed adding diapers to the discount ban. The host of the popular TV show Rip-off Republic this week urged viewers to mail Martin diapers in protest.

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