IBEC - Newsroom

Retail Ireland, the IBEC group that represents the Irish retail sector, today said that aggressive price cutting by retailers is evident in new inflation figures.

Responding to today's Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Retail Ireland Director Torlach Denihan said: “Today's figures are proof of both increased value for money for consumers and the extreme level of competition in the retail sector.

"Over the last year consumers have benefited from price falls as follows: food -6%, clothing – 14%, footwear -13.3%, furniture – 6.5%, carpets - -8%, consumer electronics – 15.1%, home computers -25.2% and toys -12.1%.

"Despite these price falls, retail sales are poor and 29,000 former retailer workers joined the Live Register in the last year. The Government must take decisive action to support employment in the retail sector and address the serious problems of cross-border shopping, flat consumer demand and an uncompetitive cost base."

Retail Ireland has proposed that the Government:

• Reduce the excise levels on alcohol, as alcohol is the single biggest motivation for cross-border shopping trips;
• Reduce VAT to stimulate retail sales;
• Cut State-controlled costs on the retail sector, such as commercial rates, waste disposal charges and electricity prices;
• Reduce the regulatory burden on retailers.