Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I take Deputy Keaveney's point. We have a number of instruments in our armoury such as the rules concerning abusive dominance to prevent a dominant market player who uses certain practices. Cartels are not permitted to collude against the interests of suppliers. We propose to introduce a code of fair practice to govern dealings between suppliers and retailers. We are not seeking to remove from the picture the normal negotiations that accompany contracts. We cannot set margins or prices as this would be well beyond our capacity and it would not be in the public interest as there needs to be competition and keen pricing. We want to ensure fairness in the market and to allow opportunities for complaint without fear of reprisal. I will consider the Deputy's suggestion for whistleblower provisions. One of the fears of suppliers is that they would be delisted if they made complaints about practices. We seek to overcome this issue by putting in place a code of fair practice and making arrangements for complaints to be made in confidence. Prosecution requires witnesses and that has always been the problem in other European countries where codes of this nature exist. We are seeking to adopt best practice. The European Union has a policy of achieving greater fairness in such business dealings but there is a problem gathering evidence and finding witnesses. The legislation will advance the situation significantly and it will be before the House shortly.

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