Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have a focused question. I have a sense that the meat factories, the multiples and the major retailers will seek to take advantage of Brexit by using it in an opportunistic way as leverage to drive down prices. I do not doubt that this will happen. What are the strategies of the various organisations to deal with this? I want to get a sense of what they are calling on the Government to do.

The EU agricultural markets task force recently published an important report on improving market outcomes. The report suggests legislation needs to be introduced at European level to provide legislative grounding for what it terms as an "adjudicator" or "ombudsman" because the voluntary systems generally are not working. The report recommends that written contracts be in place to guarantee rights. It also suggests the European Investment Bank play a role in providing access to finance. This issue has been mentioned by all of the organisations. The delegates probably heard the question I asked Mr. Jim Power earlier in this context. Have they seen the report and what is their view on it? Do they agree with the recommendations made in it? What do they think the Government should do at European level on this issue? When Commissioner Hogan appeared before the committee not so long ago, we asked him about the issue and he referred us to the impending report as his approach or strategy for dealing with price. It strikes me that it is now more important than ever to address this issue. I want to get the organisations' initial responses to the report. What is their advice to the committee on what we should do?