Mr. Fergal O'Leary:

We are very well aware of the issues in the sector. The Beef Plan Movement felt it necessary to come to our offices and it gave us information directly. It was not done by way of a protest but very politely and respectfully. We noted at close quarters the strength of feeling that exists. We acknowledge and accept that. As we said, we have in the region of 180 complaints, many of which are from the Beef Plan Movement and from individuals and other stakeholders. We are working our way through them as quickly as possible.

Our fundamental issue, which relates to the Senator's second question, on the role of an ombudsman, is that we are talking about market design. That is one of the reasons we were in front of Deputy Deering's committee in May and last year. We do not really see that there are the tools available to solve the problems of sustainability and viability purely through competition law, nor do we believe the current grocery regulations, for which we are responsible, will radically change the fact that buyer power is a significant issue in this sector. We absolutely accept that, and we accept the sustainability arguments. If, however, one is trying to work towards a solution, one realises that the unfair trading practices directive is coming down the track from the European Union. It was the subject of our appearance before the agriculture committee. It is our view that if buyer power is to be addressed and the State feels this needs to be done, it is a matter of a sectoral regulator with powers to be an ombudsman, to intervene in the market and, ultimately, to provide the support and information to those on the ground who need it. It is also a question of having the tools, on a regulatory level, to create a market. There may be an opportunity to do that as the unfair trading practices directive comes in over the next couple of years but competition policy, competition law and the grocery regulations for which we are responsible are not the right tools to address the issues that are currently arising in the market. We are professional regulators. It is our job to figure this out. We do not expect that a small business should be able to do that. That is where we see many of the differences of opinion - I will not call them misunderstandings. "Differences of opinion" may be a polite and rather feeble way of saying the problem we see in the market is different from what small farmers are seeing and experiencing. We are acutely aware, however, of the difficulties people face.

Moving on to solutions, a sectoral regulator presents an opportunity to address some of the issues.