Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 52:

In page 81, between lines 37 and 38, to insert the following:
“(2) The Minister, having regard to subsection (1) may, from time to time, give a direction that a retailer shall not sell grocery goods at a price that is less than the net invoice price of the goods.”.

Based on a previous discussion I know where this amendment is going. The Minister has emphasised that this Bill aims to protect against abuse of the supplier relationship. There is no doubt that below-cost selling is under way and that below the net invoice price selling is under way.
The Minister knows well that a turnip cannot be produced for five cent. Below-cost selling of alcohol is rampant, I suggest. Alcohol products are being used as magnets to draw in customers to large supermarkets. The manner in which alcohol is being used, its availability and the lack of regulation in the way in which it is being sold is causing so many other social consequences.
The Minister of State, Deputy Alex White is supposed to be working on a strategy around alcohol and alcohol abuse but one of the key problems is this sector. We have a chance here to do something about alcohol as well as looking at the supplier relationship and the abuse of that relationship. The Minister comes from an agricultural background and he knows it is not possible to produce a turnip for five cent, bring it to market, brand it and sell it. This is being allowed to happen and there is no follow-up, no interest. Everybody talks about it and then they move on to the next issue. It is also the case with the sale of pallets of beer. This amendment is to give protection to the primary producer and also societal protection from products that are being used by the large multiples to get people into their stores by using products that have far more consequences beyond the walls of that store.