Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I mentioned the following in the previous session and it may well have been covered before my return. It relates to contracts with the big retailers and outlets. Keelings is probably big enough to be able to kick the table on its side when it is doing a deal, but for smaller suppliers - this may even affect Keelings - we hear a lot of stories of big retailers driving prices downwards. This was discussed in the previous session, more from the perspective of vegetables as opposed to fruit, but in the run-up to Christmas, you can walk into a shop and buy carrots, Brussels sprouts or whatever at ridiculous prices. That puts pressure on the market and the supplier but it also portrays an image to the consumer that this food, whether it be a fruit or a vegetable, can be produced for that sort of price, which in itself has a massive knock-on effect on the whole mentality and attitude of consumers as to where their food comes from, what it costs to produce and what it would need to be sold at to make a profit for the primary producer. Does Keelings have any issues with that? In the case of mushrooms, where there was a fixed contract when Brexit happened, the value of sterling fell and the contracts were fixed at sterling prices, which brought that industry to its knees and almost wiped it out overnight. How is Keelings fixed with regard to contracts and the circumstances that have changed in recent years, such as the war in Ukraine and input costs rising overnight, given that companies may be in fixed contracts with major retailers, which hold a lot of clout and power?