Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Horticulture Sector: Irish Farmers Association

2:00 pm

Photo of Éamon Ó CuívÉamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Deering has raised a very important issue that the normal trick fight-back is that we are anti-consumer. I think we can fight back on that one. A lot of urban people understand the concept of fair trade coffee. They understand that coffee growers should get a fair return on the coffee bean. In fairness to them, some of the most urbanised people in this country will go to the Fairtrade shop to do their business because they do not believe in exploitation. I have been down in north Dublin a few times and I think what is going on here is a hugely damaging exploitation, not only of farmers but of the Irish industry and that unless we as a people stand up, we will not have a native farm-led horticultural industry in the country.

We need to explain to consumers that if they want consistent supplies of Irish vegetables, potatoes and fruit, the first thing to know is whether the product is Irish and when it is not; whether it is fresh and when it is not. More people are environmentally aware and many people have an objection to huge air miles being involved in importing products that could be produced at home. Therefore, I think this committee has a role, through the State agencies, as happened in the case of NDC milk. We are very good at labelling beef. It is very interesting to watch all the major supermarkets putting up big billboards saying, "We only sell Irish beef". They know that the consumer buys into that idea. We have to get the message across that where possible the consumer knows when a product is imported and when it is Irish. That relates to the point made by Mr. Brophy about the own brand which was discussed but we did not reach a final conclusion.

The own brand issue is a huge issue in farm products. For example, with reference to the attraction of own brand products, two cartons of milk will be produced in the same dairy out of the same milk but one will be cheaper. My belief is that the answer is very simple. Whereas if in the case of the branded product the supplier is changed from one dairy to another, the customer will know but in the case of the unbranded product this can be swapped around anyway, the supplier can be changed and nobody knows. The consumer is entitled to know who and where has provided the product. I remember seeing in French supermarkets many years ago that the sheep farmer who produced the lamb was identified. Should we insist that the consumer should know from the label who produced the vegetables and fruit and where they were produced? Should there be country of origin law introduced and the Tricolour only permitted to be used to show that the produce was genuinely produced in this country? There should be none of this washing and packing products and calling it an Irish carrot. We could explore together how information could be given to consumers because I do not underestimate the consumer if given the right choice.

I refer to the six big supermarkets without naming them. We know who are the big players. Do they account for 80% or 90% of products sold? I refer to small greengrocers and small corner shops. I am counting SuperValu as being one of the big supermarkets because it is part of Musgrave. Are we reliant on 90% or 80% of products going through the big five, through the narrowest part of the hour glass?

Exploitation is exploitation where somebody in a dominant position abuses that dominance. Up to now, European law has always been concerned with abuse of dominance against the consumer. This is not just an Irish problem, the EU has made it absolutely clear to us it is a pan-European problem. We need to work on this as a pan-European problem as well as a local problem.

We need local legislation as it is quicker to implement. We also need tightening of regulations and so on.

If we want to retain European agriculture as it is - we are not the country with the largest number of horticultural farmers - we have to press Europe so that they absolutely control the dominants. I am delighted that Commissioner Hogan has taken up the banner on this since he became the Commissioner. Certainly the Commission officials are very supportive of his position. However, we need to push this home. First, something he can do quickly is to publish information. He can then introduce regulations which would be a bit slower and take more time. The more the information on issues such as labelling, pricing, margins and so forth is in the public domain the more we can educate consumers that it is not really in their interests.

I never came across a supermarket that operated as a charity. We need to be blunt. The supermarkets might offer vegetables, which are grand and healthy, at very low prices. However, as customers come to the checkout with children they offer chocolate, Coca Cola and other soft drinks on which they are making a killing. Any newspaper that claims that they are out to help the consumer is being very naïve about supermarkets. Supermarkets are interested in one thing, profit. We should send out that message clearly. They will manipulate everybody, including consumers, to make that profit. It is always very interesting to watch the layout of the supermarket, including the location of sweets as last-minute buys where children can stick out their hands.

We need to get across the message that we are not anti-consumer, but the consumer is also the producer and depends on the producer to create the wealth for the country. We have to fight back on that issue. As a committee we should jointly reject that we are anti-consumer, but we are very much for maintaining this industry for this country.

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