It is dishonest of any Government Minister to suggest that food prices will fall quickly in response to the recent agreement in Brussels in respect of the Common Agricultural Policy. Are consumers expected to treat this Government seriously on the issue of food prices when one considers that they have increased over the past two years by 3 per cent, while at the same time farm incomes have fallen by 27 per cent? It is worth looking at a few examples to illustrate this point. In 1990 a farmer received £1.30 per pound for a leg of lamb but today the same lamb is making just 80p per pound. This represents a decrease of 38 per cent in the price paid to the farmer. The price being charged by the retailer to the consumer in 1990 was £2.30 per pound approximately. Today a leg of lamb is retailing in Dublin at £2 per pound, which is a reduction of just 14 per cent. Pork prices dropped by 60 per cent to producers over the past ten years but we all know that bacon and rashers are retailing largely at the same prices as they were two years ago. Beef prices have fallen by 15 per cent to the farmer during the past two years while retail prices have fallen by just 5 per cent on average. Furthermore, there are regional variations in respect of prices charged to consumers. In Dublin food products are 10 per cent approximately more expensive than in other centres throughout the country. These brief examples clearly demonstrate that prices paid to producers are not reflected in the prices charged to consumers in this jurisdiction. The resultant largely greater margins of profit for processor and retailer, with the Government acting as mere spectators in allowing this anti-consumer practice to continue unabated, is regrettable.
The Minister for Industry and Commerce has repeated time and again that competition is the only means of forcing down prices. Therefore, there is no need for regulation in the marketplace. Experience has shown in the area of food and drinks that Irish consumers are not discerning. Irish consumers do not seek further information or insist on going from one shop to another or one pub to another to ascertain price before they purchase. I regret to say this Government do not place, or have not placed, high on the agenda the issue of support for consumer organisations or the implementation of better structures for greater consumer information.
Fine Gael have proposed on a number of occasions that the Office of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade should take on a more active role in monitoring prices in the food area. To ensure greater inspection and enforcement of the necessary regulations additional staff is required in that office.
Regional offices need to be established throughout the country that will provide more information to consumers on the issue of food prices. An ideal opportunity to do this now presents itself to the Minister for Industry and Commerce because on the completion of the internal market some 604 surplus staff from customs and excise will have to be redeployed. I was disappointed recently that the Minister for Industry and Commerce, Deputy O'Malley, rebuffed the idea that some of those staff would actually be redeployed to the Office of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade. I am calling on the Minister this evening to indicate what measures the Government intend to take to ensure that the expected reduction in food prices to the producers will be reflected in the prices charged to consumers. The time for action rather than political rhetoric is now. It was disgraceful to hear the Minister for Agriculture and Food talk about a bonanza for consumers as a result of the Common Agricultural Policy reform package. History will show that when there is a reduction in food prices for producers they are not reflected in the consumer basket. I look forward to the Minister's reply.
