Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his answer and look forward to the fair trade legislation, which is urgently needed. As the Minister knows, the Oireachtas committee intends to investigate not only the question of liquid milk, but also the wider issue. It is a major concern. Given the squeeze on liquid milk producers, we might need to import winter milk at some point. This would be a tragedy for what should be the dairy island. Will the Minister support the committee's investigative efforts and will he undertake to give serious consideration to any proposal made by same?

Has the Minister raised this issue at European Union level and will there be a co-ordinated effort to deal with the power of the multiples? Most if not all of the major multiples are multinational companies. Will the Minister briefly outline the policy direction that Europe intends to take to limit what it views as competition between multiples but what I view as their control?

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