The lead headline in the Irish Independent this morning is "Coalition set to clash over food bills ban". The substance of the story is about whether Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin will retain, amend or scrap the Groceries Order, which has the main effect of banning below cost selling. Last Thursday's Irish Times reported that the Minister was coming under pressure to repeal the order, especially in the light of a Competition Authority report (PDF download available) that said the measure is costing households almost €500 a year in forgone savings. The new National Consumer Agency also called for the order to be repealed and Tesco has made a formal submission to the Minister.
The Indo story is framed in terms of the potential for yet another policy clash between the two parties in government, following on from the recent café bars climbdown by Michael McDowell. The Tanaiste and PD leader Mary Harney is quoted as saying
it would be foolish to ignore reports that consumers are losing out on 18 per cent of the cost of groceries because of the ban and that preventing shops from passing on discounts to customers is a 'no brainer'. I think Micheál Martin knows my view. It's a matter for him to decide.
Her successor as Enterprise Minister is adopting a customary cautious approach and has said that he intends to amend the existing order rather than definitively scrap or retain the ban. He explains that arguments on either side of the debate are "over hyped".
The other side of the argument who are mobilising against scrapping the Order are firmly backed by elements in Fianna Fáil. Among the organisations that are reported to have sent submissions to the Department of Enterprise in favour of retaining the Order are IBEC, ISME, RGDATA, IFA and ICMSA. Deputy Donie Cassidy, the FF chairman of the Oireachtas Enterprise and Small Business Committee, said that his committee's call to have the Order to be retained had the full support of the party's backbenchers. These backbenchers are reported to be lobbying for the Order to be retained to protect small retailers in country towns and villages. On the other hand Harney has stated that she was encouraged by the fact that the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland was the first business lobby to advocate a position that explicitly benefited consumers.
So clear divisions are emerging between the PDs who favour full blown competition and Fianna Fáil who seek to protect special interests. The latter position is typical of what we would expect to find from a classic catch-all party such as Fianna Fáil. The PDs are more of a niche party and are therefore more likely to articulate policies that are ideologically motivated and more clear-cut. It will be interesting to see the clear differences that will emerge when both parliamentary parties assemble for their annual think-ins next month. Martin's expected fudge will probably prevent the issue from destabilising the coalition but the underlying differences between the two parties will no doubt persist.
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