Tesco Ireland has rounded on Irish independents lobby group RGDATA after it accused the multiple of trumpeting price cuts and then quietly hiking prices up again. Corporate affairs manager Sarah Morris accused the lobby group of being "disingenuous". "They have basically cherry- picked a particular selection of products that support their claims," she said. "The promotional prices held for three months ­ a long time in retailing. While some have risen, overall, our products are still far cheaper than they were last year." RGDATA claimed Tesco increased the price of products included in a January promotion by an average of 18% within just four months. Director general Ailish Forde said the price tag on some items featured in Tesco's price offensive had risen by more than 50%. Tesco had made "outlandish and inaccurate claims about prices to consumers," said Forde who has lodged a complaint with the director of consumer affairs asking for an immediate investigation. When Tesco launched the promotion in January it described the cuts as a "fundamental repositioning of prices at Tesco Ireland," and "not merely short term promotional prices". - The company has strongly denied reports that chief executive Terry Leahy was flown into Dublin to calm the industrial dispute brewing over low pay at Tesco Ireland. A spokesman said Leahy was in the republic for a pre-arranged biannual meeting with management to make group strategy presentations. A spokesman from Mandate, which represents 9,000 of Tesco Ireland's 9,500 staff, said the union hoped that talks with the company due to take place yesterday (Friday) to secure "substantial pay increases" would bear fruit. "Tesco is making some pretty healthy profits," he observed. "It's about time they dropped their Cinderella perspective on pay. They've said they are prepared to move. The question is, how far? Rates of pay at Tesco are far behind those at Dunnes and Superquinn." Mandate is also calling for the abolition of an "antiquated" pay policy offering different rates for rural and urban workers and the right to join the profit sharing scheme. {{NEWS }}

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