Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 July 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Discussion

Mr. Se?n Murphy:

Sure. When we look at the proposed legislation as currently presented, there are the compliance notices, which I referred to, the summary prosecutions and the indictable prosecutions, which are filed with the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP. References also made to alternative dispute resolution processes. Where the office would deem a particular issue amenable to being resolved in that alternative manner, such an approach would also be possible. This is what I mean in respect of the interventions. It concerns the approaches available and then making the relevant judgement in the context of the practice, the intent and what is to be delivered in this sense in respect of interventions. It is not that the interventions are listed in a sort of chronological order. When we read through the heads of this legislation, we see those as forming part of this suite. Hopefully, this clarifies the position for the Senator.