Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Technical Group for allocating some of its speaking time to me to speak on this very important Bill. I also thank the Minister and his officials for bringing this major reforming legislation, with its three main objectives, before the House. The structure is modelled on that of the Competition Authority. I hope that when the legislation is passed by the Oireachtas the merging of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority will deliver improvements in competition and create a watchdog with real teeth. It is part of the broader reform agenda within the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, which will see the number of agencies reduced by 41 over the coming months. That should be welcomed as it will streamline the agencies by pulling them together and putting them into more workmanlike shape. That is how I view it and I hope it works out that way.

With regard to the three main aspects of the Bill, I will focus on the regulation of certain practices in the grocery goods sector aimed at ensuring balance and fairness between the various players in the sector - the suppliers, retailers and consumers. This is very important. At this point it is only right that I declare what could be classified as an interest in that I am a grocer, albeit a small grocer in a small village. However, as a result of that job or role, I have seen how some of our larger retailers carry on. Some of their behaviour is often questionable. Deputy Harrington correctly referred to what happened a number of months ago in some of the larger retailers when they sold groceries at nonsensical prices. I was glad to join the members of the Irish Farmers' Association, IFA, when they left Leinster House and marched to a store not far from here. We went in and bought vegetables in the store at ridiculous prices. We brought them outside and gave them away to people. We did it to highlight in the media that what the retailers were doing was quite disgraceful.

The people that day were vegetable producers and many of them had come from the midlands and north Kerry. These people grow vegetables and incur the usual increased costs due to the times in which we are living, yet they were watching their absolutely perfect vegetables being sold for virtually nothing. The consumer might have thought they were winning on that day, but ultimately the consumer would lose. Where a system does not allow for a fair price to be paid to the person providing goods to a shop, it will not continue to work. People must receive an honest, fair reward for the goods they sow, produce and sell to shops, including these large retailers. The practice of "hello" money and many other shady practices have been carried out over the years by the large retailers. I would vehemently and wholeheartedly support anything the Minister can do to put checks and balances in place to prevent such behaviour.

One hears about the promotions being conducted by the larger retailers but these can be laid bare and ultimately shown to be not in the interest of the consumer. I have seen that happen repeatedly. Retailers have engaged in price wars just to put other retailers out of business. When they have put the others out of business they ratchet up the price and, to be honest, screw the consumer. That is wrong and I hope this Bill will address it. It would be right and proper for that to happen, as it is increasingly difficult for smaller retailers to survive.

With regard to a code of conduct in the grocery sector, be it statutory or voluntary, I would prefer something rock solid. It should not be a voluntary code but a statutory code that is put in place and seen to have teeth. That would be welcome.

The other matter dealt with by the Bill is the updating and modernising of the laws on the media to take account of international best practices and technological developments. We live in an ever-changing world. If one wishes to see what can happen as a result of modern media, it is fair and honest to point out that without modern media we would probably have a different President of Ireland, with all due respect to the current President and I acknowledge he is doing a great job. However, that is a fact.

I listened earlier to Deputy Wallace's contribution. I wish to set the record straight on one matter. I am no fan of large media conglomerates but I believe it is fair to mention somebody's name, Denis O'Brien, because I am doing so in a positive way and the Deputy did so in a negative way. When I hear his name I do not think first of the wealth he has accumulated for himself but of the jobs he has created, both nationally and internationally. When a person is successful, an employer and a doer, I must admit I would support such a person. It is only right to bring some balance to the record of the Dáil today. While he was cast as somebody who might not be particularly great earlier, I have a different opinion and I am anxious to put that on the record.

That said, I am aware of what the Minister is doing. The man I mentioned, large as his operation might be, is operating within the law, and always will and always has done in his business dealings. However, it is only right that this Bill will ensure that we will not have a situation whereby one person would have undue influence over this country's affairs. We must have modern laws that will ensure we are operating at all times to best national and international practices. It is a very difficult job due to the speed with which the media operate. We have seen in the past how an issue that might not have been portrayed correctly can be released on media outlets in seconds. It could be a big story because it takes off so quickly, but much of the information in it might be incorrect. There is a lot to be said for when the media moved a little slower because when it moved slower, it had a better chance of being factual. However, that is not the world in which we are living today and there is nothing we can do about it.

I support the Minister in trying to ensure that the media are governed in a proper way, while at the same time ensuring nothing is done to stifle them, as we do not want that either. What we want is fairness and transparency. We would also wish that the media would be fair to us. It would helpful if, rather than trying to spin things for much of the time, they would just report factually and not tell blatant lies about people, as has happened in the past.

Hopefully in the world we are living in, where people are a bit more active about standing up for themselves, they might be curtailed on that in the future.

I welcome the Minister bringing the Bill before the House and I thank him and his officials who sometimes do not get thanked for the work they do, but whose role is very important. They put an awful lot of time and effort into bringing a Bill like this before the House. They are not in here today as they are in other offices elsewhere, and I would like to acknowledge their work because it is important that they are appreciated and that we thank them for their efforts.

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