Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his questions. Consumer protection is of significant importance, given what is happening in today's environment. As the Deputy is aware, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was established in 2014 as a result of the merger of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency. It is important to point out that it is a statutory body with responsibility for enforcing consumer protection and competition law in Ireland. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, it has been allocated an additional €350,000 in the Revised Estimates. As I stated, a new directive establishes a minimum list of prohibited unfair trading practices between buyers and suppliers in the agricultural and food supply chain and lays down minimum rules concerning enforcement and arrangements for co-ordination between enforcement authorities. The measure seeks to protect suppliers who sell agricultural and food products to buyers with a turnover of €350 million, with differentiated levels of protection provided below that threshold. The text identifies nine unfair trading practices which are completely prohibited between suppliers and buyers and a further six practices which are prohibited unless they have been previously agreed in clear and unambiguous terms in the supply agreement. As the Deputy is aware, the Commission issued a draft report in April 2018 dealing with unfair practices in the food supply chain. Agreement on a compromise text was reached by the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the Commission in December 2018 following six sets of negotiating trilogues led by the Austrian Presidency. As the scope of the directive aims to contribute to a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine held lead responsibility for the file during EU negotiations. The measures will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union as soon as the Council of Agriculture Ministers formally approves the text proposed in December 2018.

The additional funding of €350,000 for 2019 is to help the CCPC inform consumers on the impact of Brexit. It is another part of the Government's response to Brexit and aims to ensure that consumers are aware of the potential impacts. The money is allocated to the CCPC for that reason.