Ms Niamh Lenehan:

The new office of An Rialálaí Agraibhia works within the powers and functions that have been given to it under the 2023 Act. To answer the Deputy's question specifically, I think he is referring to competition law, according to the Act, as it stands, we do not have a role in competition law. I know this was discussed a lot during the legislative process in terms of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, having that role. An Rialálaí Agraibhia's role in that space is that in the course of our work, if we come across any practices or anything we feel does not look quite right, we have a duty to pass that on to the relevant authority. We are very confident in the powers the regulator has in terms of enforcing unfair trading law. That is a significant part of ensuring fairness and transparency in the agriculture food chain.