Families at “breaking point” over grocery prices, says Bacik

Labour leader Ivana Bacik has said that families are at “breaking point” over rising grocery prices.

The Dublin Bay South TD was speaking in the Dáil after an Irish Times report showed that the price of festive food will cost 20% more this year compared to 2024, and grocery inflation is now roughly 3 times higher than the headline inflation rate.

Bacik says that the government are not doing enough to tackle the issue, and called out Taoiseach Micheál Martin over the issue at today’s Leaders’ Questions.

Bacik specifically took issue with the recent Budget, which cut one-off financial supports for families, which were features of the 2022, 2023 and 2024 Budgets.

“It’s not just the Christmas turkey that will come at a higher price this year; rents are up seven per cent, house prices are up the same, and over 300,000 households are now in arrears on their electricity bills. All of this is combining to push people to make impossible choices – between heating and eating, or skipping essentials just to keep a small buffer for emergencies.”

She said that Martin “skirted” the issue when pressed on it in the Dáil, which led to Bacik saying “there was little to no acknowledgement of just how hard it has become for ordinary people to get by.”

The Labour leader said that are “practical” steps that the government could take, but are actively choosing not to pursue.

“The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has already said that the Agrifood Regulator is the appropriate public body to investigate these extortionate grocery prices. My colleague, Ged Nash, asked the Minister for Agriculture nearly two months ago when he would instruct the regulator to launch an investigation. It would take nothing more than a simple Statutory Instrument to give the authority the power to act. But nothing has happened. Well, not quite nothing – prices have continued to rise.”

“This government is failing working people by refusing to take on the corporate greed that is driving many of these price hikes. There are two immediate actions that could make a real difference. First, adopt Labour’s Excessive Prices Bill, which would force supermarket giants to publish their profits and bring transparency to pricing. Second, and secondly to direct the new Agrifood Regulator to investigate how big corporates are driving up prices while their share values climb.

She said, “families cannot wait another winter for leadership. Labour is calling on the government to act now – to empower regulators, to bring fairness and transparency to food pricing, and to deliver real relief for households who are at breaking point.”