Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are here to talk about the investigation. On the broader issue, there has been a growing problem in the past ten years. If one looks at what food producers get from the end price in the supermarket of product sold at retail level, ten years ago they would have got more than 30% of that price, whereas they now get less than 20%. That is not a trend that is sustainable into the future. However, we need to address that with broader policies at EU and national level. One will see, for example, the Government introducing in the next few weeks new legislation with regard to mandatory codes of practice between food suppliers and large multiples. That, in some ways, is a separate issue to the issues we have here. A company as large as Silvercrest should be able to produce burgers at the very highest of standards regardless of what it is being paid for them.