Seán Kyne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am here in place of a colleague, Senator Tim Lombard, who sends his apologies. I commend the Minister on, as others said, driving the agenda to establish this office. The programme for Government referenced an ombudsman, which Senator Boyhan touched on. Perhaps the Minister will explain the difference he sees between an ombudsman and a regulator, or perhaps it is just a name, but I know that was the original intent. What issues arose in terms of the establishment?

I commend the members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine on their comprehensive pre-legislative scrutiny. I have gone through the recommendations it made and, in fairness, the Minister accepted and adopted the majority of them. As he stated in his opening contribution, he is also agreeing to take on amendments from the Dáil and perhaps this House as well during Committee and Report Stages. I also welcome the commitment, and again part of a recommendation, to consider primary producers as part of the board. Will that be through a Public Appointments Service, PAS, type system or will that be directly to the Minister’s office? I presume a PAS system will be a more appropriate manner of selecting those members.

I think we all accept that competition is hugely important but there is a difference between competition and unfair, unsustainable practices. Sustainability is important but as well sustainability it is important to look at the economic sustainability of farmers as the primary producers. That hugely important in respect of all of this and that has to be acknowledged. Systems we have that allow for undercutting and all that we have seen, particularly in the milk sector, can have a huge impact on the family farm. It is important that we stamp out unfair trading practices. The directive coming from the EU together with this Bill will have an important role.

The expectation is one of those things we always have to be cautious about. Sometimes, the expectation will be not what this office can do but what it cannot do and what people think it can do. That is what we might see once it is established and once there is a crisis in one of the sectors and whatever else. If we look at the ongoing debate relating to milk, it is evident what farmers receive for milk, the costs of packaging and pasteurisation and all that goes with that for producers and what the retail charges the consumer for it. Those are the differences in the three different steps. Obviously, there are different costs along the way but the issue here has always been that the primary producer has been the one regarded as doing much of the work to get their product ready for market but they do not get a fair price for it. Most Members are conscious of primary producers getting a fair price for their work.

I welcome the commitments on the appointments to the board and to ensure looking at primary producers. The functions of the regulator are important and I know this has been comprehensively dealt with by the Oireachtas committee. I refer to the circumstances and needs of the agriculture and the food sector, including, in particular, farming businesses, fishing businesses and small food businesses. The regulator will publish an analysis of information on price and market data relating to the agricultural and food supply chain. The regulator will be responsible for enhancing understanding of and compliance with agrifood unfair trading law and enforcing agrifood and fair trading law and shall be the designated enforcement authority for unfair trading practices. The regulator may, for the purposes of protecting supplier interest, publish guidelines for buyers about supply protection and trading practices, whether generally or in a particular trade, business or professional sector. The regulator may review codes of practice submitted and also can provide advice to the Minister about the agriculture and food sector and the agrifood unfair trading law and UTPs. The Minister may consult the regulator regarding the proposals for legislation relating to any aspect of fairness and transparency in the agricultural and food supply chain. The Bill provides for powers to levy fines on buyers including retailers, food processors and producers, which can include a penalty on the aggregate turnover for the financial year that the offence was committed or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three years, or both.The Bill shall provide for annual reports and for accounts to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, as well as a requirement for the regulator to appear before the Committee on Public Accounts and the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as required. That is an important aspect. I welcome the Bill and the functions of the regulator. It will have a lot of important work to do. My only area of caution is in respect of expectation. That is one concern. As soon as a crisis hits, there will be expectation that the regulator will be able to solve all issues and intervene. It does have a role and it will provide the transparency and clarity that are needed in order that we will not have a debate on who is creaming off the hard work of the primary producer but the powers to be able to intervene and fix things are of concern. I welcome the establishment of an rialálaí agraibhia and compliment the Minister on his initiative and drive on this legislation.