Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the IFA representatives for their presentation. My first question is on the code of practice. Mr. Bryan said it should set a limit on the use of own brands by retailers. Why does he hold that view and will he expand on it?

Some of the retailers who came before the committee cited that they only sell Irish beef in their stores but given that 90% or 95% of Irish beef is exported, that would be a very small portion of the amount of beef being produced and therefore the prices they pay would not have a huge impact on the price the producer would pay when so much of it goes to the export market. What are the witnesses' views on that?

An issue that arose from the evidence given by the retailers is that they negotiate a price and the contract price is there but the code of practice will cover issues that arise outside of the contracted price. Does Mr. Bryan have any figures on those additional costs? If these practices were stopped and the processor was benefiting from it, how does he see the code of practice leading to the producer achieving some of that benefit also? Would that be provided for in the code as proposed or would it have to be examined?