John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

They did promise today that they would be back on a regular basis. It is important that the Government takes note of that.

I want to mention the food supply chain. Farmers are concerned that supermarkets, particularly the multinational supermarkets, are ripping off farmers. I read in the last few days a report carried out by a European economic body, the European agri- and economics institute, entitled profit on invested capital in the agrifood sector, which pointed out a number of problems within the industry. It stated that feed producers get 15% of the profit margins, co-ops or dairy producers get 18%, retail bodies get around 25% and the farmer, or the cowman, as one person wrote in the paper, gets 0.3%. It can be seen that the farmer is the poor relation in this regard. This is a matter of grave concern to farmers up and down the country. We will see more protests about this.

Strawberry producers tell me that when they are supplying strawberries to supermarkets, the supermarkets set up promotions under which customers can buy one pack and get one free, or get two packs for €4, but it is the producer who must supply the strawberries at the reduced price so the supermarket can maintain its profits. It is important this is tackled. It will not be easy. I was in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when the then Minister, former Deputy Mary Coughlan, met the multinationals to discuss this issue, and they did not listen to her. I am sure it will be the same with the present Minister. However, it is in the interests of farmers and with the aim of creating and maintaining jobs that we must deal effectively with the multinationals and make sure the producer is getting a fair price.

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