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

From my perspective, the Minister's job is to manage the jobs, enterprise and innovation sector in a fair manner in the interests of the people and in a manner that allows people who want to work hard, invest, take risks, etc., to be properly and fairly compensated for those inputs into the economy. I also believe that to achieve that, information is necessary. I cannot think of any other manager anywhere who would wilfully not request key information that is relevant to his ability to manage his job and tasks. The profitability and turnover of these companies has consequences throughout the economy, not least in terms of employment rights and negotiations and engagements.

In this scenario we are discussing market power. The legislation is hung on the key issue that there is fair interaction of different market forces, including buyer and suppliers. A key part of that is information. The Minister cannot fully adjudicate on the engagement between Tesco or Aldi with suppliers if he cannot reasonably understand their levels of profit and turnover. To wilfully manage the whole sector in the blind - that is the reality at present - results in an inability to manage it properly. I still do not understand why exactly this has not happened as of yet and I urge the Minister to increase his ability to manage the sector and stand up for the interests of the public on this issue.