Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I understand the Government has now approved the heads of that Bill. I did ask previously if the Government would circulate the heads of the Bill. I ask the Tánaiste again if that will be done. At the request of my parliamentary party I wrote to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government three weeks ago today requesting a meeting with him to discuss his plans for the legislation. I have not yet had a substantive reply to that request. I repeat my request to the Tánaiste that the heads of the Bill, which I understand have now been approved by the Government, should be circulated to the Opposition parties so that we can at least get some idea of what the Government's plans are for this office for which it intends to hold an election this year.

The second piece of legislation I wish to ask the Tánaiste about is the promised consumer and competition Bill. I am sure she will be aware of the reports we have seen this week that Tesco and other large supermarkets are seeking to extract the advance of large sums of money. In the case of Tesco I understand the amount it is seeking is up to €500,000 from suppliers of Irish products just to put their products on the shelves of the supermarkets. My colleague, Alan Kelly, MEP, has already brought this to the attention of the relevant EU Commissioner and to the Competition Authority. As the Tánaiste has direct responsibility for consumer matters, will she outline what she intends to do to deal with this "Godfather" type of activity that the large supermarket chains are now engaged in?

See this speech in context