With households continuing to struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, the Social Democrats will bring a motion before the Dáil next week calling for full transparency on profits being generated by supermarkets.
Jennifer Whitmore TD, who will introduce the motion on Wednesday, July 9, said:
“Families and individuals across the country are finding it extremely difficult to make ends meet as the cost of living soars. According to a recent PwC report, more than 70 per cent of people in Ireland are either ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ concerned about the price of groceries.
“Grocery prices have increased at three times the rate of general inflation in the past year alone. In fact, many families are now spending €3,000 more a year to put food on the table than they were in 2021.
“This is at a time when the number of children living in consistent poverty nearly doubled to more than 100,000 in 2024.
“And of the more than 103,000 calls to St Vincent de Paul this year, almost half were requests for help with food.
“It is now over two years since then Minister of State with responsibility for Retail, Neale Richmond, convened a ‘supermarket summit’ to examine grocery costs. However, his intervention failed to make any difference, with supermarket chains continuing to generate massive profits off the backs of Irish households.
“Consumers have a right to know whether surging grocery prices reflect genuine input cost increases or blatant price gouging.
“Our motion calls for the introduction of legislation requiring all grocery retailers operating in Ireland – with an annual turnover above €10 million – to publish full audited yearly financial accounts. This requirement would apply to all operators, whether Irish-incorporated or international, to ensure no retailer can claim foreign registration to evade transparency obligations.
“In addition, we are calling on the government to monitor and publish regular reports on the impact of this transparency initiative on grocery price inflation and competition in the retail sector.
“There is also a need for clarity on how much farmers and food producers are being paid for their produce as it appears that the lion’s share of the profits often goes to the big retailers
“It is time to put the needs of struggling householders before the eyewatering profits being enjoyed by supermarket chains.
“The lack of transparency around these companies’ profits must end.”
July 4, 2025
NOTE: full text of motion here