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BreakingNews.ie
4 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Harris brings up SuperValu mistake after Doherty's cost-of-living criticism
There were tetchy scenes before the Dáil's summer recess as Tánaiste Simon Harris and Sinn Féin finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty clashed over cost-of-living supports. Mr Doherty said there are more than 300,000 households behind on their electricity bills and over 170,000 behind on their gas bills . Advertisement 'Government cannot just swan off for the summer break leaving people in the lurch with stress and uncertainty. 'I say to you that you need to introduce a cost-of-living package, you need to continue with energy credits and you need to tell families that you won't cancel the help they rely on to help them with these massive energy bills this autumn.' Mr Harris responded by citing a number of Government supports, including the expansion of those eligible for fuel allowances. He then went on the offensive, bringing up a recent mistake in a debate where Mr Doherty claimed the SuperValu chain was owned by a US multinational. Advertisement It is actually owned by the Musgrave Group. 'You spend a lot of your political career standing up here saying: 'you don't get it over here. You don't understand, you're out of touch," Mr Harris said. 'You know what I know? I know who owns Supervalu. And it's not an American multinational. 'I know who owns Supervalu, they sponsor the GAA, they sponsor the Tidy Towns. They're in towns and villages across the country, they're a proud Irish company. And you thought, you thought they were owned by an American multinational." Advertisement Pointing at Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, Mr Harris added: "And you want Paschal Donohoe's job?,' the Tánaiste said with a smile, while pointing at the Finance Minister sitting beside him. 'You want Paschal Donohoe's job and you don't even know who owns SuperValu? Or can't even use Google? Give me a break." Shouts of disapproval were heard from the Sinn Féin benches, while Government TDs smiled and laughed. Speaking afterwards, Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said: "Anybody looking in on this debate today will have their head in their hands. They are worried about putting food on their table, they are worried about turning their lights on and we have this kind of behaviour going on? 'It's just... I actually don't think either of you get it." While the Government may have seen the exchange as a victory, plenty of people echoed Ms Whitmore's assessment online, with many claiming it was no more than unhelpful pantomime politics.
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- Business
- The Irish Sun
‘Give me a break' – Watch shock moment Simon Harris & Pearse Doherty clash in fiery cost-of-living crisis spat
SIMON Harris clashed with Pearse Doherty in a fiery spat over the cost of living during the final Dail session today as TDs take a break for the summer. The Advertisement 2 Pearse Doherty questions Simon Harris over the need for cost of living supports in the next budget Credit: Dail Eireann 2 Simon Harris fires back at the deputy leader saying: "I really worry for your level of economic literacy." Credit: Dail Eireann Deputy leader Pearse Doherty told the Dail that there are more than 300,000 households behind on their He said: 'Government cannot just swan off for the summer break leaving people in the lurch with stress and uncertainty. 'I say to you that you need to introduce a cost of living package, you need to continue with energy credits and you need to tell families that you won't cancel the help they rely on to help them with these massive energy bills this autumn.' Simon Harris hit back with a list of supports that the Government are already putting in place including the expansion of the Advertisement READ MORE IN BUDGET 2026 The Tanaiste then went on the attack and blasted Pearse Doherty over a mistake he made in a recent debate where he claimed SuperValu was owned by a US multinational. SuperValu is in fact owned by the Musgrave Group in Ireland. Tanaiste Simon Harris said: 'If you genuinely believe that the economic challenge facing our country this summer is the equivalent to moments of economic challenge over the last couple of summers, I really worry for your level of economic literacy.' He added: 'You spend a lot of your political career standing up here saying 'you don't get it over here, you don't understand, you're out of touch.' Advertisement MOST READ IN THE IRISH SUN 'You know what I know? I know who owns SuperValu. And it's not an American multinational. I know who owns SuperValu. 'They sponsor the GAA. They sponsor the tidy towns. They are in towns around this country. 'They are a proud Irish company and you thought they were owned by an American multinational. 'You want Paschal Donohoe's job? You want Paschal Donohoe's job and you don't even know who owns SuperValu and can't even use Google. Give me a break.' Advertisement It comes as Paschal Donohoe confessed that there will be SPEND PLAN The amount of money that the Government has to spend in the upcoming budget will be set out during the Summer Economic Statements next week. Speaking ahead of this key event in the budget process, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe warned there will be no repeat of the one off cost of living bonuses that were a feature of recent budgets. The Advertisement The job losses and economic hit will be much worse if Minister Donohoe said Ireland's finances is in a strong position to weather this economic storm but he claims the Government must make smart choices in the budget. He said: 'We have a moment of uncertainty again. We will get through it. 'We will overcome it but in order to do that we have to make choices that are sensible and that we can afford.' Advertisement
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- Irish Independent
‘We have to be honest with people' – Simon Harris doubles down as he is told electricity credits must be included in next Budget
On Dáil's last day before summer recess, Sinn Féin's Pearse Doherty criticised Government for plan 'to cancel the energy credits that people desperately need' Electricity credits must be included in the next Budget, as in recent years, because of the number of people falling into arrears, the Tánaiste has been told. Sinn Fein's Pearse Doherty said the number of people in arrears with their electricity bills has risen by 63,000 in the first four months of this year. He added that there are now 175,000 people in arrears on electricity bills, with 300,000 'not able to pay the gas bill'. Mr Doherty told Simon Harris that people needed help to heat their homes and keep the lights on, adding: 'I say you have all the wrong priorities.' However, speaking on the Dáil's last day before the summer recess, Mr Harris said: 'You'd probably have to go back a very long time to find a summer recess in which we have seen a moment of greater economic uncertainty.' Addressing Mr Doherty, he said: 'You don't want to talk about trade. You don't want to talk about tariffs. You don't want to talk about the 48,000 people who work in pharma in this country. You don't want to talk about the global uncertainty. 'You've never seen something you don't want to spend more money on. But we have to be honest with the Irish people, we can't just keep saying, 'spend, spend, spend'.' Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore said the Government was 'reckless and feckless' with public money and wanted to blame the opposition for its own failures. The Tánaiste asked her to name one benefit the Social Democrats wanted to cancel in order to save money. He said the Government was trying to make sure that people and working families can keep working 'by protecting their jobs at this dangerous, dangerous moment'. On the Budget, he said: 'The on-off measures served a purpose at a time of extraordinarily high inflation.' He said the Government had made clear, ahead of the last election, that it couldn't last. ADVERTISEMENT He told Mr Doherty: 'We will support families, but we're also going to support the economy, something you don't like talking about very often.' 'There are those on fixed incomes who are at greater risk of poverty' Ms Whitmore said the State had never had so much money come into its coffers as in the last 14 years, 'and we have very little to show for it'. Mr Harris said he did not agree with that analysis, adding that he had stood alongside Ms Whitmore, his constituency colleague, at many a ribbon-cutting for new facilities in Wicklow. There had been record investment across the country, he said. Mr Doherty said: 'Your plan is to cancel the energy credits that people so desperately need and relied on. 'You dig in and you continue to refuse to agree for a cost-of-living package in October's budget. And of course, there are those on fixed incomes who are at greater risk of poverty and they need greater support. 'But this ever-worsening cost-of-living crisis has widened significantly. More and more families, more and more working people, are struggling to get by. 'Even families with two incomes find it harder than ever to keep up with the bills, which are out of control. Prices across the board are pushing households to the brink. 'It's not lost on these families that they are being hammered by rip-off prices and electricity and gas, while these same energy companies are recording bumper profits. 'The ESB recorded operating profits of over €1bn in 2023 and similar to that again last year. And SSE Airtricity made hundreds of millions of profits in both of the last two years.'
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Times
Sinn Féin blames ‘human error' for SuperValu gaffe
Sinn Féin has blamed 'human error' for three party TDs incorrectly referring to Irish supermarket chain SuperValu as being part of a US company. During a Dáil debate on supermarket profits last week, the party's finance spokesman Pearse Doherty as well as TD Paul Donnelly named US firm United Natural Foods as the parent of SuperValu. Another TD, Máire Devine, claimed an increase in 'SuperValu's stock by nearly 61 per cent' in an apparent reference to the performance of United Natural Foods shares. While United Natural Foods owns a SuperValu chain in the US, it is not connected to the Irish business. SuperValu in Ireland is owned by Cork-based Musgrave. It is not listed on any stock exchange. [ Who owns SuperValu? Don't ask Sinn Féin Opens in new window ] A Sinn Féin spokesman put the gaffe down to 'human error,' while adding that it should have been caught before the debate took place. It is understood that a Sinn Féin staff member searched for SuperValu in Google Finance and incorrectly took the result tied to United Natural Foods. The mistake threatened to undermine the party's points during the debate around food prices, which have continued to rise even as wider inflation has slowed. Consumer prices rose 1.8 per cent in June, according to Central Statistics Office data, down from 2.2 per cent in April and less than half the 4.1 per cent increase in January 2024. Still food prices are up sharply. [ Grocery prices now climbing by more than 5% new figures show Opens in new window ] The price of groceries in supermarkets rose 5.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to the end of June, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Over the course of a year, price inflation of 5 per cent will add close to €400 to a typical household's grocery spend. In a sign that shoppers are becoming more price conscious, the Kantar data showed that spending on promotional offers rose 17.6 per cent. SuperValu has a 20.3 per cent share of the Irish supermarket sector, trailing Dunnes Stores and Tesco.
The Journal
7 days ago
- Business
- The Journal
Sinn Féin's mix up over who owns Supervalu put down to 'human error'
MIXING UP THE owners of Supervalu during a Dáil debate last week has been put down to 'human error' by Sinn Féin. During a debate on the cost-of-living and rising food prices, Sinn Féin's finance spokesman Pearse Doherty and a number of other Sinn Féin TDs stated that United Natural Foods Inc rather than the Irish Musgrave Group own the supermarket chain Supervalu. Doherty told the Dáil that 'United Natural Foods Inc., the owners of SuperValu, saw its stock price rise by 60 per cent in the last year'. Sinn Féin's Máire Devine and Paul Donnelly also noted that 'SuperValu's stock by nearly 61 per cent' and had a 'turnover exceeding €5 billion for the first time, with profits of €104 million'. So, what happened? Sinn Féin has put it down to 'human error' due to a search by Sinn Féin staff into Google Finance turning up a 'Supervalu' company based in the US being owned by United Natural Foods Inc. Google Finance is a search tool that provides real-time stock market prices. Advertisement However, the Musgrave Group, which owns Supervalu in Ireland, is not a publicly listed company and is in fact a family-owned business. It therefore would not feature on a Google Finance search. It is understood that when Supervalu was put into the search it stated that United Natural Foods Inc had bought Supervalu, however, beneath the headline it clarified that the 'Supervalu' in question is an American company, not an Irish company. 'We should have caught it ourselves,' said a source in Sinn Féin. However they argued that the point being made in the Dáil during the debate still stands as supermarkets are seeing their profits increasing since the pandemic. According to Musgrave's annual report for 2023, published last year, the group reached €5 billion in turnover for the first time. Meanwhile profit after tax for the year reached €103.9 million. Musgrave's report stated that of the €6.5 billion that came in with retail sales, €3.5 billion came from SuperValu stores. The cost-of-living crisis and rising costs featured during today's Leaders' Questions debate today, where Taoiseach Micheál Martin acknowledged that prices remain 'elevated'. Musgrave's has been contacted for comment by The Journal. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
