Mr. Brian McHugh:

We received a number of complaints in 2019 or thereabout from a number of parties and spent about a year looking into them, including engaging with the complainants and relevant industry parties such as Teagasc and Bord Bia to understand the market and what was going on. There were a number of complaints, including about cartel-like activity in beef processing, foreign imports of beef, the offal market and how the in-spec system worked in terms of pricing. There were quite a few complaints; it was not just one.

We worked through those issues for about a year, engaging with different parties. We then produced a note on our website going through what the complaints were, the work that we had done, what our conclusion was in terms of the issues we saw in the market and whether there was a potential breach of competition law. That is on our website. Again, I am happy to share it and forward it on if that is appropriate. Our conclusion was that we did not have the evidence to open an investigation.

We understand that concerns exist and they are real because we engaged with and spoke to quite a number of parties. A breach of competition law is a criminal matter for which one can be brought to court and imprisoned for up to ten years. It is a very serious matter. In terms of investigating it, getting warrants and doing raids, which would be the norm for a cartel investigation, we did not have the evidence to do that. That is not to say that therefore, we then claim there is nothing to see here. We are not saying that. We understand the frustration and engage with those parties.