Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I do not know if I can publish it because it may be advice specifically for the Department but I will find out if I can. We can share it with the committee. It is essentially the CCPC giving us preliminary views on price controls in the retail grocery sector. We asked for some advice on that. It has effectively looked at what is happening in other countries and how that compares to Ireland. It has talked about price controls in the context of an emergency. In a state of emergency, where shortages of certain goods emerge, Governments may intervene to set prices or ration certain products. The decision to do this can only be taken by Government and such regulations require careful design and consideration.

As a member state, Ireland may regulate prices in the public interest under Article 4, or under section 62 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007, during a state of emergency. According to the European Commission, if a member state decides to regulate prices, such prices must be set by government rather than the retailers, and such regulations must ensure not to offset the price environment, and breach international market rules or competition. That is an outline of the factual position, and then-----