The claim comes after the annual rate of inflation spiked above 3pc in Ireland for the first time in two years.
Energy tariff increases and higher food prices have sent the annual rate of inflation up again.
Prices are estimated to have risen by 3.2pc in the 12 months to November, the highest level since December 2023.
This is despite the fact that prices fell by 0.2pc when compared with October, according the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
The latest increase in prices comes just after the October budget, when the Government insisted the worst of the price rises were behind us.
The then-finance minister Paschal Donohoe said inflation had “normalised”, and he expected an inflation rate of around 2pc in the coming months.
He said this was why there had been no repeat of last year’s once-off cost-of-living measures.
There were no tax adjustments in the budget to stop people paying more of their income in tax due to inflation and pay rises.
The CSO said the “flash” estimate for inflation in November came from what is called the European Union harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP). This index does not account for mortgage costs.
The overall rate of inflation has been creeping back up in recent months, putting huge pressure on household budgets in the run-up to Christmas.
Energy prices are estimated to have grown by 0.7pc in November, and rose by 3.3pc over the last year. Bord Gáis Energy, Energia, Pinergy and SSE Airtricity all increased electricity prices last month. Flogas raised its electricity prices in August.
“Inflation could stay at around 3pc for a few months, maybe six months
Food prices are estimated to be unchanged in the month but they increased by 4.2pc in the last 12 months, according to the CSO’s “flash” estimate of inflation from the EU HICP for November.
Economist Dan O’Brien said Ireland’s annual rate of inflation had gone above 3pc for the first time in two years.
He said stubbornly high services-price inflation and higher-than-EU-average food-price inflation were behind price rises. Mr O’Brien, who is the chief economist at the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin and a senior fellow at UCD, said it could take months for inflation to ease back.
“Inflation could stay at around 3pc for a few months, maybe six months,” he said. But he added that inflation is unlikely to hit 5pc as the economy was “softening”, while prices in Ireland were likely to converge with those across the EU over time.
Statistician Anthony Dawson said: “The latest flash estimate of the HICP, compiled by the CSO, indicates that prices for consumer goods and services in Ireland are estimated to have increased by 3.2pc in the past year.”
He said transport costs had grown by 0.1pc in the month and rose by 3pc in the 12 months to November.
Petrol and diesel prices went up due to the imposition of carbon tax in October’s budget. Diesel prices are up 4c a litre, with petrol up 2c in the last month, according to AA Ireland.
