Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I thank the witnesses for appearing before the committee this afternoon. I will ask a number of questions about the presentation and the aim of the directive to ensure a fair standard of living. What are the witnesses' views on how that will be achieved in terms of the current practices we have?

My other question is on the administrative fines. Ms Goggin stated that the issues are with fines being administered other than by the courts. I was racking my brains as to when I last paid a library fine. There is some method. Local authorities can levy a fine on me if I do not bring my library book back. Is there something we are missing? Who would fine the offenders rather than having to go through the courts?

I want to inquire about below-cost selling, which we have all seen in the grocery sector. It was referred to by some people earlier. My concerns around the big multiples heavily discounting fruit and vegetables, which are the essentials for most households, is that having food so cheap devalues the production of food. It also leads me to be concerned about food waste. It is slightly off track perhaps but it creates the impression that food is disposable and is so cheap that it can be thrown out if it is not all used. It does not give the producers any great comfort to see this happening. The text of the directive was referred to where it states that buyers should not sell products below purchase price and then request the supplier to cover the difference. Do we know that is happening already? If it is, it is outrageous. The primary producer is carrying the cost when the loss-leading method is used to get consumers in and then it is piled on elsewhere in terms of pricing.

I had one other point but I cannot find it. Perhaps the witnesses could answer those questions and it will come back to me.