Irish people have been lamenting the rising costs of living and sharing specific examples of what they have noticed getting more expensive.
One Twitter user who lives in Dublin asked: “Has anyone else noticed a jump in the price of their weekly shopping? I can’t be exactly certain, but things seem more expensive all of a sudden.”
The Tweet quickly went viral with dozens of people sharing their thoughts on the issue.
“Everything has gone up in price. I noticed yesterday that a shop brand litre of milk had increased by 10 cent. Where’s the justification in that if it’s Irish produce?” one person asked.
Another replied: “Milk, bread, rice, all gone up - supermarket own brand products anyway, presume branded products are too. 2lt carton milk gone up 20c - we go through at least 10 2lt cartons a week in our house.”
“Bread, butter, coffee, milk... All the basics up 10 to 15%,” a third claimed.
“A pack of 'cheap' spaghetti used to be 49 cent, it was 65 this week,” another person shared.
One user shared a clever trick that she noticed some shops doing.
“Also deceptive price increases by making packets smaller and changing the number of items in a multi pack so it masks price increases,” she said.
Another person shared their top tip that they claimed helped cut their costs.
“If you have the time to shop around. A bit of Aldi with bit of dunnes/super valu can work out well. I find if you don't mix it up you literally pay the price,” they wrote.
One other user explained how they avoid a shock at the checkouts.
“I now shop mostly in Tesco because I can scan my groceries as I pick them up, I just got tired of nearly fainting at the til when the cashier told me the amount of my groceries at least now I can see what I'm spending as I go along and can keep it to what I can afford,” they wrote.
With diesel prices on the rise, motorists also noted an increase in parking fees.
“Car Park rate per hour locally has gone from 1.20 to 1.40, 17% increase …. Why ??? Greed ?” one person wrote.
Another shared: “We paid €5 per hour last night going to a theatre!!! Fish in a barrel! We’d no choice with the four year old! Never again!!!”
Another area Irish people said they are noticing increases is in waste disposal.
“Prices up across a wide range of foods, chicken up 20% but it’s not only food. Our recycling company have advised of 12% price increase after similar price increase in the second half of 2021,” one person said.
However, others didn’t share the sentiments.
“No. But not really paying attention and almost only shop at Lidl,” one person stated.
Another agreed: “I have currently switched to Lidl from Aldi; both are a massive compromise in terms of quality compared to Sainsbury or Tesco.”
A third argued: “Yes people don’t seem to understand what carbon taxes mean. Perhaps the government didn’t spend much time explaining but that’s what carbon taxes are. If it costs more to get your goods to your shop the prices have to go up for everything.”
It comes as a Government Minister has apologised for saying that the Irish public should 'shop around' instead of ‘complaining’ about the rise of the cost of living.
Sean Fleming made the comments during an interview on RTE Drivetime on Monday evening.
The Minister of State at the Department of Finance told host Sarah McInerney: “It takes effort to shop and switch, and if people make an effort they can save a lot of money.
“So rather than just complaining on what the Government can do for me, you can actually have a serious impact on your own finance, but it involves people having to do some work themselves,”.
And late on Monday, he issued an apology, writing: “In relation to the interview I gave on RTÉ’s Drivetime this evening, I did not intend to imply people shouldn’t complain about the cost of living, that wasn’t my intention and for that I apologise. I was urging people to also shop around for best value, in addition to the measures being taken by the Government.
"The government and Fianna Fáil take the issues around the cost of living very seriously. We are taking action to help ease the cost of living pressures many are currently facing. I am very aware of the cost of living pressures that are currently confronting people and businesses.”
