This article is from page 65 of the 2007-10-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 65 JPG
IRISH people spend more on alcohol in off-licences than on food, accord- ing to the Irish Creamery Milk Sup- pliers Association President Jackie OF TTeR
Speaking at last week, the farm- ing leader stated that the impact of increased milk and grain prices on food costs is being grossly exagger- ated by politicians and commercial interests and that the “so-called food inflation is nonsense”.
“Politicians and others should stop misleading consumers on this mat- ter. We do accept that there will be an increase in food prices reflecting
the new realities of production and, in this regard, it is important that the current increasing farm price for milk is at least maintained,” he said.
“That is precisely why the sug- gestion for a quota increase would warrant very detailed considera- tion. People who are calling for an increased quota at European level after a few months of improved milk prices – improvements which were long overdue and were critical for the continuation of profitable dairy farm productions – should pause for thought.
“Their energy might be better used in ensuring that the Irish retail food sector returns a higher market
to both the processor and farmer, reflecting the increased international food commodity prices.”
Mr Cahill said the reality of the situation is that food spending amounts to 11 per cent of total con- sumer spend. In the past, food prices increased despite falling farm prices and decreasing food commodity prices internationally.
“Milk and cheese account for a mere 1.2 per cent of total spend, even if the price of these were to increase by 50 per cent, it would add a mere 0.6 per cent to the cost of living,” he continued.
“Irish people now spend more on alcoholic drink than on food and that
off-licence sales of alcoholic drink alone – at 6 per cent – amount to more than the cost of bread and cereals, dairy products and meat.
“These official facts, as published by the Central Statistics Office, show the complete lack of a foundation to so-called food inflation. Comments alleging food inflation are now reg- ularly trotted out for political and CLoyrabeenet-i must hKieeke
“The tightening of world supply in food commodities, increased energy costs and climate change food will result in further commodity price increases, but that the impact of this increase on actual food prices in the shop would be low.”