Ireland has the highest consumer prices in the EU

[joe sod]

Ireland dearest in EU for consumer prices, 46pc above the average

Ireland had the highest consumer prices in the EU last year, due largely to high alcohol and tobacco taxes and the cost of energy and communications.

www.independent.ie

Ireland now has consumer prices 46% above the EU average. This is mainly due to very high tobacco and alcohol costs , these are 116% above EU average. The introduction of MUP in 2022 is credited with pushing so far above EU average now. Energy prices were also a big factor.
The main takeaway from this is that the government is directly pushing irish prices way above EU averages. They really shot themselves in the foot with the ridiculous MUP. Ireland is ideally set up for the next recession with prices way out of line with EU comrades and the state is the biggest factor

 

[WizardDr]

@joe thanks for posting.

As a nation we are not good at getting good prices on anything - we were conned by semi-states down through the years and have never waned ourselves out of the behahiour.

Our silence on energy prices is a case in point.

 

[Purple]

Why are descressionary luxury goods like alcohol and tobacco in the CPI?

We are a small island off the coast of the mainland so we'll always have higher prices in general. That's a result of a smaller market causing a lack of economies of scale and a lack of competition.
We also have very high levels of income tax and social transfers which makes labour expensive.

 

[Protocol]

Our labour costs are ninth in the EU, they are not the main cause of high prices.

 

[joe sod]

Why are descressionary luxury goods like alcohol and tobacco in the CPI?

Because people consume them whether we like it or not and they consume them throughout Europe in many cases in greater quantities than we do. It would be ludicrous not to count something in the cpi when it accounts for a high level of expenditure.
In any case we are way out of line with the rest of Europe regarding pricing in general.
We may not feel it yet but we are starting to lose big FDI investment to the continent due to very high prices here and poor infrastructure

 

[T McGibney]

Our labour costs are ninth in the EU,

Source?

 

[Purple]

Because people consume them whether we like it or not and they consume them throughout Europe in many cases in greater quantities than we do. It would be ludicrous not to count something in the cpi when it accounts for a high level of expenditure.

We the people, through our elected representatives, have decided that we should have high taxes on tobacco and MUP's and high taxes on alcohol. The fact that these decisions are a major reason we have high consumer prices is great news as we can choose to buy them or not.

In any case we are way out of line with the rest of Europe regarding pricing in general.

The rest of Europe? Have you been to Denmark?

We may not feel it yet but we are starting to lose big FDI investment to the continent due to very high prices here and poor infrastructure

If we are losing FDI investment it's not due to the price of a packet of fags or a Pint.
Poor infrastructure is a factor but the very high levels of personal taxation are a major factor, particularly in Banking and Finance.

 

[Protocol]

Source?

Eurostat.

 

[Protocol]

A 400g tub of SudoCrem nappy cream is for sale at £5.80 in the UK, equivalent to approx. €6.80, versus €11.89 for the same product for sale by the same supermarket chain in Ireland. That represents a 75% price premium.

Own-brand paracetamol is for sale at 29p in UK supermarkets, equivalent to about 35c. Irish supermarkets sell branded paracetamol for at least €1.75.

Broadband is available in the UK for £15-20 per month, if you shop around, compared to typically €35 or more here.

A cup of coffee in a café in the Algarve can be as little as 65c, compared to at least €2.50 here.

 

[Protocol]

A GP in France charges 26, here it is 60? Or maybe more.

We paid our GP double what the UK paid to administer the COVID vaccine.

 

[thedaddyman]

The vast majority of people in Ireland no longer care about tobaccco costs so why they are included is beyond me. We've the 6th highest alcohol consumption per person in Europe so MUP is not having that big an impact on consumption.

 

[joe sod]

Eurostat.

According to that chart we are marginally below countries like Germany, Austria ,Belgium for hourly labour costs but basically at similar levels to the highest wage european countries at 40euros per hour.
However that wage buys much less than those countries as our prices are 46% above the average. You are far better off getting 30 euros per hour in Germany than in Ireland and that's the big issue.

 

[T McGibney]

Eurostat.

Is this survey data? Why does it exclude certain sectors and small enterprises?

 

[T McGibney]

A 400g tub of SudoCrem nappy cream is for sale at £5.80 in the UK, equivalent to approx. €6.80, versus €11.89 for the same product for sale by the same supermarket chain in Ireland. That represents a 75% price premium.

Own-brand paracetamol is for sale at 29p in UK supermarkets, equivalent to about 35c. Irish supermarkets sell branded paracetamol for at least €1.75.

We have an Irish Medicines Board that insists on re-regulating medical products that have already been regulated almost to death in the UK or elsewhere. And there is a cost to that.

Broadband is available in the UK for £15-20 per month, if you shop around, compared to typically €35 or more here.

Economies of scale.

A cup of coffee in a café in the Algarve can be as little as 65c, compared to at least €2.50 here.

Irish cafe's are very heavily regulated. Your Irish cafe won't last long if you undercharge for coffee.

 

[Purple]

We have an Irish Medicines Board that insists on re-regulating medical products that have already been regulated almost to death in the UK or elsewhere. And there is a cost to that.

The UK is outside the EU. It's the European Medicines Agency that we are duplicating given that under EU law anything they authorise for sale can be sold in any EU country (and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).

 

[T McGibney]

The UK is outside the EU. It's the European Medicines Agency that we are duplicating given that under EU law anything they authorise for sale can be sold in any EU country (and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein).

I didn't mention the UK. The person I replied to did. The fact remains that Sudocreme, paracetemol and many other products on which higher prices in Ireland are obvious are ubiquitous across ROI, NI (which presumably remains in the EU for this sort of thing?) & GB.

 

[Purple]

Our State sector is very inefficient and State spending has increased by more than a third since 2016. The State never spends money efficiently. That waste increases real costs within society.

 

[Purple]

I didn't mention the UK. The person I replied to did. The fact remains that Sudocreme, paracetemol and many other products on which higher prices in Ireland are obvious are ubiquitous across ROI, NI (which presumably remains in the EU for this sort of thing?) & GB.

The HSE pays around 3 cents per paracetamol tablet so the high prices are more a reflection of the profiteering by pharmacists and distributors, despite the whinging and bleating they do. I got that from a Pharmacist. He's in his early 30's and works as a Locum, getting €800 a day.
Why are medicines so high here? Because that's what the market will stand.

 

[Purple]

According to that chart we are marginally below countries like Germany, Austria ,Belgium for hourly labour costs but basically at similar levels to the highest wage european countries at 40euros per hour.
However that wage buys much less than those countries as our prices are 46% above the average. You are far better off getting 30 euros per hour in Germany than in Ireland and that's the big issue.

There are economies of scale on the mainland though. We are an island so it's just more expensive to do stuff here.

 

[T McGibney]

The HSE pays around 3 cents per paracetamol tablet so the high prices are more a reflection of the profiteering by pharmacists and distributors, despite the whinging and bleating they do. I got that from a Pharmacist. He's in his early 30's and works as a Locum, getting €800 a day.
Why are medicines so high here? Because that's what the market will stand.

It's hard to imagine that literally everywhere from large supermarket multiples to corner shops to pharmacies and other outlets are all conspiring in the scam.

I can buy 3 16-packs of paracetemol for a pound in Poundland and B&M bargains in NI but those sort of places either don't sell them down here or they're priced at least €2 a pack. I can only assume it's because of regulation.