Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the members for their detailed Committee Stage assessment. I also thank them for the significant work they all put into the prelegislative scrutiny hearings the committee held with stakeholders and for the report the committee sent to me. I worked hard to accommodate that report and I fully or substantially accepted 18 of the 20 recommendations. I thank members for the time and effort they put into tabling amendments to the Bill on Committee Stage. I also thank committee members and the secretariat for working to deal with Committee Stage in a timely fashion.

I look forward to Report Stage and the passage of the Bill through the Houses and getting the office up and running as quickly as possible. The office will be a significant step forward in our agrifood chain. It will bring price transparency and transparency along the supply chain. In particular it will address a challenge for primary producers by ensuring there is clear transparency in the system. We will have an independent statutory office operating to oversee this. I thank Ms Sinead McPhillips, Ms Angela Robinson, Mr. Noel Collins and Mr. Ray Sheehy from the Department. Mr. Collins and Mr. Sheehy have been managing the unfair trading practices office. I recognise the work of all of the team there.