Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

A vote is due to be called in ten minutes' time and that is why I want to contribute now; otherwise, I would be happy to wait. I thank the delegates from both organisations for coming in.

On the issue of "hello money" and all the various descriptions of that, the irony is that the large companies know they can get away with it. They realise the shortcomings and they know that it will take somebody to stand up to this. The knowledge of the situation is making this issue much worse in reality despite however much legislation we have on this area. As one of the witnesses said, unless somebody stands up in court, nothing will change. It seems that particularly affects many Irish food producers who would be small operators. Many large retailers would say that they are very pro-Irish and that they want lots of Irish products on their shelves but is that really the case? While we seek to support and encourage customers to buy Irish and encourage indigenous food production, the moment the producers' products arrive at the retailers, those producers are hugely disadvantaged because they will not be able to compete at a level because they are not operating on an equal footing, as the witness said, with the larger food producers and will not be able to get a fair whack, so to speak. While I appreciate the authority's dilemma regarding the legislation and the fact that people will not go to court, do the witnesses have any other offering of a solution given that this must frustrate them also? Clearly, it frustrates them all day, every day. Do they have a suggestion of their own or from another country that would help us to deal with what is a very clear issue?

On Ms Goggin's statement on the statutory code, I carefully read the language she used and it seems that while it is written in a fairly neutral fashion, namely, that such codes are not always fit for purpose and do not solve the problems they were intended to solve, it is quite a weighted comment, and from what I have read, I believe she is unhappy with the prospect of such a code. Perhaps I am wrong in reading that into the statement. She said the authority made a submission to the Department but she did not say what response it got from the Department in 2011. While clearly she is saying that the authority will be diligent in putting this into place if it is asked to do so, I feel her heart is not in it because she does not believe in it, which is fine. If that is the case, what would she say the authority ought to do? She said in one of the responses that the authority will wait and see what works and what does not work from what will emerge from the Commission's work. If she does not believe it will work, what does the authority believe will work? That is her area of expertise, it is not mine and I do not claim to be an expert on it.

I wish to ask about a consumer-related matter.

How would one describe the Competition Authority's response to the horsemeat scandal? Do the witnesses think that it was robust and strong? If not, why not, and what lessons have been learned given that it did come as a shock? What research has been carried out on loyalty cards, vouchers and points which seem to be a very attractive way of gathering people in? People feel they are getting value for money and something for free. Is it the case that it is a good thing or are we paying for that loyalty somewhere in the price? I am sure we are but I do not know what the evidence is.

I appreciate the point Mr. Shine made about labelling and that it is not his area. We know that all of the products under the Guaranteed Irish umbrella are not Irish. In a way one could argue that the Guaranteed Irish concept is misleading because not all of the products are 100% Irish-----