Mr. Ryan McDonnell:

Senator O'Brien's final comment concerned the horsemeat scandal and the issues of quality and compromising versus price and sustainability. For me, as head of our purchasing division, quality is to the fore of everything we do. The first things we address are the product's specification, taste and the quality of its ingredients. The cheapest price in the tendering process will not always be the most attractive one because we have to pay for quality. I know the Senator is in production herself.

We would not entertain the idea of quality becoming an afterthought when we have hammered out the cheapest price. Senator O'Neill referred to minimum pricing and below-cost selling of alcohol. In principle, our offer to the customer, week in and week out, is based and built primarily on a fresh offering, promoting fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry, chilled products and household essentials. In our experience, these are the primary drivers of footfall and turnover, and what make us attractive. We have a broad and healthy promotional mix as evidenced in our weekly leaflets, on television and in the press. However, we are very aware of how competitive the alcohol category is across the retail landscape. As part of our efforts to make the entire basket as competitive as possible, we engage in alcohol promotions which occasionally can fall below cost. I would reiterate, however, that we do not see alcohol as a main driver for our business. We would deem such a strategy as unhealthy and it would be unsustainable to focus too much on that category.