Caps 'could put prices up & cut choice'

PRICE caps could make products more expensive, reduce choice and lead to scarcity, Ireland’s consumer watchdog warned yesterday

- LOUISE BURNE

It comes as Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney asked the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission for advice on “more transparency” can be delivered in the food supply chain.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar revealed in the Dail on Wednesday the Government had received advice warning against price caps.

The document, seen by the Irish Mirror, warns the CCPC has not seen “any evidence or analysis to support the suggestion that an emergency or market failure exists in the retail grocery market”.

It advised that customers had benefited from high levels of competition in the grocery market and that this had contributed to Ireland experiencing low levels of food inflation.