Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 82, line 9, to delete “and”.

Deputies Calleary and Tóibín raised the issue of including garden plants in the definition of grocery goods on Committee Stage due to claims that serious issues affect producers in this market. Having considered the matter, I am prepared to accept the amendment with the addition of the words "garden plant bulbs". I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. However, the inclusion of garden plants and bulbs under the regulations means a new cohort of businesses, such as large garden centres and DIY retailers, suppliers and wholesalers now come within the definition of the grocery goods undertakings. These businesses had not, to date, engaged in any consultation process on the proposed measures to ascertain the extent of any problems with these products. To this end, a public consultation process will have to be undertaken but, as I do not wish to see any delay in the promulgation of regulations under this proposed legislation, a separate amendment, amendment No. 73, is being proposed to allow me as Minister specify the types of grocery goods that may be included in any set of regulations. This would allow relevant businesses to engage in a public consultation process on this issue in parallel with regulations that are being made for other classes of grocery goods.

The second element of Deputy Tóibín's proposed amendment is extremely wide and could cover everything from greeting cards to petrol to electrical equipment. Even occasional items that are offered for sale by a grocery goods undertaking would be covered. For the purposes of this Bill the term "grocery goods" means any food or drink that is intended to be sold for human consumption and can include any substance or thing sold or represented for use as food or drink for human consumption and any substance or thing sold or represented for use as an additive, ingredient or processing aid in the preparation or production of food or drink for human consumption. It also includes intoxicating liquors, household cleaning products and toiletries. We are adding garden plants and garden plant bulbs today.

Although it is clear that many relevant goods undertakings may sell other products along with grocery goods as part of their service to consumers, it is worth recalling that the inclusion of the products proposed by Deputy Tóibín would mean a new cohort of businesses such as retailers, suppliers and wholesalers could now come within the definition of "relevant grocery undertakings". None of these businesses has engaged in the public consultation process on this issue as the discussions centred on the traditional definition of grocery goods, which did not include this catch-all element. There would thus be an extra and unforeseen administrative burden imposed on such businesses without prior consultation.

The UK code does not include such a catch-all provision on the goods it covers and my Department is unaware of such a provision in the code or measures of any other state. The addition of an unspecified range of products, for which there is no evidence of any problem, is neither appropriate nor proportionate. In view of this I am not in a position to accept the second part of Deputy Tóibín's amendment.

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