Mr. Brian McHugh:

We very much welcome this proposed legislation. I think there is real clarity between the different roles of the CCPC and the new office. We previously had responsibilities under the grocery goods regulation. Those are now ended and the new office will take on responsibilities largely coming out of the UTP directive, which is much wider in terms of the issues it is dealing with compared to the grocery goods regulation. However, there are some learnings we will have. We have and will continue to engage with the Department and the new office on our learnings from that specific area around the supply chain and the relationship between retailers and primary producers, for example. We have done that already but we will continue to do that with the new office. Over time, we expect that we will continue to engage with it and discuss matters of common interest.

One thing that is very clear, as is the new office, is that we remain responsible for enforcing breaches in competition law, which would include any cartels. We will retain that responsibility. That is very clear. We strongly encourage anyone who has any evidence or concerns around potential cartel behaviour in the agricultural industry or, indeed, any other industry, to approach us. We have a number of routes and avenues under which individuals and companies can do that. We will also be getting new powers under the legislation on the European competition network directive, ECN+, directive, which has just passed the Oireachtas. It will be really welcome. There is, therefore, a clear differentiation between our different roles. We would expect that in terms of the new office being an expert in that industry and understanding the market and collecting data and evidence, we would engage with it, as we do with other agencies that are experts in areas, about its views and what it sees in the market. In terms of the powers, however, there is a very clear difference and there are very clear different roles we will both retain.