Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Goggin for the presentation and for coming in today to discuss this issue. I am interested in hearing her perspective on international comparisons with other European countries. How are they set up and how do their structures in terms of groceries regulations compare with our own? How strong are their enforcement agencies? I am also interested in Ms Goggin's view on the so-called supermarket ombudsman in the UK, on how it operates and how it compares to our own set-up. Fianna Fáil proposed an amendment to the current legislation in order to provide more clarity within the CCPC by allocating responsibility to a dedicated person within it who would be set up to act as a food ombudsman and to oversee the groceries regulations.

On how things currently stand, I am interested in Ms Goggin's perspective on the priority in terms of engaging with the 22 traders for whom the CCPC has responsibility and the identities of those traders. Is that of benefit in light of the current proposals from the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the Parliament which would require a separate body to take over that role from the CCPC? In that regard, I would be interested in hearing further detail on what Ms Goggin believes would be required in any such sector-specific regulator, how it could best operate and what competencies, capacity and resources it would require to implement the directive.

I am also interested in her perspective, given the role of the CCPC, on the objective of the directive, which is to deliver a fair income and standard of living to those two primary producers. How can that be achieved? Is it a realistic objective in terms of drilling down and ensuring it could happen? Undoubtedly, as Deputies Cahill and Martin Kenny outlined, the big issue with which we must grapple and with which the current directive and proposals seek to deal is that of trying to ensure that the primary producer does not always bear the brunt of competition and hits to the market. While others at higher levels of the food chain continue to take their margins, the primary producers always end up being squeezed, which is a real difficulty. In terms of having a sustainable food chain, it is essential that we look at following through on the directive and trying to put systems in place to ensure that the primary producer gets a fairer deal in regard to supplying quality food to the consumer.