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. Arnold Dillon:

I have already mentioned that I think the UTPs should be allowed to bed in. Another issue that comes up repeatedly in conversations with members is the board. A chairperson and a board constituted of five individuals or ordinary members are envisaged. It has already been designated that two of these will be from the primary producers. There is certainly a sense that if that is to have a governance role in terms of oversight over the enforcement authority, which will obviously have very important roles in terms of monitoring activity, reporting on UTPs and potentially prosecuting parties that are in breach, there should be a broad swathe of representation on that board representing different actors in the supply chain. That is what our recommendation would be in terms of a retail representative on that board along with a voice of the consumer.