There has been a call for greater competition among the main supermarket chains, after a survey of grocery items revealed little difference in price between Dunnes Stores, Tesco and Superquinn.
The survey has shown symbol groups such as Spar and Centra charge an average of 10% more for goods.
The research, undertaken by the National Consumer Agency, includes 59 branded products from the top 100 brands.
As expected, the survey found that people pay more for goods in convenience stores.
Centra was 10.8% more expensive than the main three supermarkets and prices at Spar were 20.2% higher. Eurospar was 7% more expensive. Convenience groups argue that consumers are paying for local stores which remain open late.
The survey also showed that prices were higher in Dublin than in the rest of the country.
The National Consumer Agency said it was a worry that there was only a 1.6% difference between prices at Tesco, Dunnes and Superquinn.
The agency says it points to the fact the market is too concentrated.
Aldi and Lidl were excluded from they survey because they sell few branded items.
