Mr. Seán Murphy:

I will add one point to what Ms Goggin has said. The consumer experience is also changing. Ten years ago, the click wrap, e-commerce transaction where groceries are purchased online and arrive to the door was not an option. People have different experiences now. People who are time poor are willing to pay a premium for convenience. That is changing and evolving, particularly in terms of how that product is delivered and the accessibility of getting it from store to house. As it evolves, regulation has to catch up.

Some committee members have mentioned penalties, and Deputy Corcoran Kennedy mentioned library fines, and there is a facility to levy those. The CCPC has a fining power through fixed payment notices but they are for petty or regulatory breaches, so are on the lower end where something can be disposed of easily. The sort of breaches we are looking at here require something more because of their impact. The equivalent of a library fine, or a €300 fine, will not have any effect. It must be substantial, effective, proportionate and dissuasive. That is the premise of larger fine regimes. That might answer it.

There is a facility for local authorities to levy smaller fines. The CCPC has that facility for particular breaches but, for larger breaches, another model is needed.