Ms Edel Clancy:

I will deal with some of the issues Deputy Ó Cuív raised because they are linked to some of the other questions that were asked.

First, I will deal with the code. Deputy Ó Cuív mentioned the United Kingdom. We have two brands in Great Britain, Budgens and Londis. The code does not apply to us in the United Kingdom and we do not have any experience of it there. As Deputy Ó Cuív articulated, I return to the point that an EU-wide solution must be found because these problems are not stopping at national borders. We must take a joined-up approach to solving the problem, which is why we are in favour of a voluntary code. If one goes down the road of a national statutory code here in Ireland, the reality is that we are an island off the coast of Europe which has international products and retailers and the question will become how widely applicable an Irish code will be. I believe we need a European solution to this issue in which one creates that fairness and balance between retailers and suppliers.

We may have to tweak such a solution to work in Ireland because we have a unique market here. Retailers such as Ms Breda Cahill are competing head to head and toe to toe every day with international retailers. I will hand over to her in order that she may speak about that. She shares a wall with one of those international retailers. We are living in that kind of environment.