Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 December 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

An Rialálaí Agraibhia: Engagement with Chairperson Designate

Ms Niamh Lenehan:

What I would look at is the powers we do have. The measures on unfair trading practices, UTPs, were put in place for the first time as a result of a European directive. They were put in place to rebalance that bargaining power. That says a lot. We have very clear powers in that regard. On the transparency side, a lot of information can be gathered from our reporting that may point to issues. As Mr. Healy has mentioned a couple of times, we are going forward as an independent agency. Our job is to bring transparency to and shine a light on the food chain as a whole and to identify those issues. That is what I would say. The Deputy made reference to giving what we have a chance. Obviously, we do not have powers in respect of competition but, as we said earlier, if something comes to light that we feel does not look right, we will certainly pass it on to the relevant authorities.