Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is it. Deputy Fitzmaurice has been on hold all day. It is not like him to be so quiet. I texted him but he does not seem to be available.

I thank the representatives of the IFA for attending. They have made an excellent presentation to the committee. The legislation is very important. We will write to the Minister and look for an exact timeframe as to when it will be before us. All stakeholders, including retailers, will be invited in to give their views on the legislation and how it will work in practice.

Below-cost selling of alcohol was mentioned already. The measures put in place have levelled the pitch. They were implemented on health grounds more than anything else but the matter under discussion is about the survival of important sectors in our economy. I assure the delegates that members will do their utmost to ensure the legislation introduced will have the teeth necessary to do what we want it to achieve, that is, to prohibit below-cost selling using loss leaders to attract footfall to stores at the expense of the primary producer, as mentioned by the IFA president on a few occasions. That practice has to stop. We need to get a fair price for our produce. A price that covers just the cost of production is a very fair ask. This committee will do all it can to get the legislation through as quickly as possible. It will be before us for pre-legislative scrutiny. The delegates will be here again at that stage to comment on it and to suggest amendments reflecting what they need to see done. As I stated, we will write to the Minister to look for an exact timeframe. All stakeholders will be involved when we get into the legislative process.

I thank the delegates. The next private meeting of this committee will take place on Tuesday, 8 March at 3.30 p.m. The next public meeting will take place on Wednesday, 9 March at 5.30 p.m., when we will be examining CRISPR-Cas9. The witnesses will be from State agencies and will be subject-matter experts.