#consumer-costs

#consumer-costs

Irish Life Health is to raise the cost of 99 of its plans by an average of 3pc from the start of October, in a move that could add €185 over a year to a family's cost of cover. The three main health insurers in the market have announced multiple price rises in the last year, with hikes now being announced on a monthly basis. Irish Life's latest price-rise announcement comes days after Laya Healthcare said it was hiking 84 of its 116 plans by 4.5pc from the same date.

"Descriptive evidence shows that goods categories heavily exposed to imports have indeed experienced sizable price increases since the beginning of this year, relative to their prior trends."

Rising food inflation, currently at double the rate of general inflation, is forcing families to pay an extra €3,000 annually for groceries, signifying a permanent trend in food price increases.

"There's a large mismatch between the amount of chips we use in this country in various products and the supply created here in the US... Putting a tax on those imports will simply raise the cost, and that's not a good thing for consumers."

"The report prepared for Coimisiún na Meán recommends that Ireland introduce a levy on paid media providers to boost investment in domestic productions."