Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 50:

In page 81, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following:“(2) All retailers defined as relevant grocery goods undertakings must disclose their profits in the Irish market.”.

This is an important amendment not only for this legislation, but in the context of dealing with corporate companies. A whole range of multiples do not provide details of their sales and profits in this State. This is a huge disadvantage for policy development and taxation and is a disadvantage also in regard to the ability to create progressive rates and understanding the market power structure.
The fact that Tesco, Aldi and others do not indicate the turnover or profit they make here is wrong. In discussions I have had with many businesses recently, I have been made aware of the need for a progressive business rate. However, how can we apply a rate that takes profit into consideration if some of the key players in the market are unwilling to disclose their profits? I have probably mentioned this to the Minister a million times, but we cannot manage if we cannot measure. The fact we cannot measure exactly the turnover and profitability of these multiples is a major weakness in our ability to hold them to account, to manage them and to develop policy. If we are to have a transparent market in which firms and suppliers understand their true market power, it is important we get to the bottom of this issue. Why has this not happened before this?