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

Amendments Nos. 50 and 53 seek to have retailers, defined as relevant grocery goods undertakings, to be obliged to disclose their profits in the Irish market. The proposed amendments are stand-alone provisions, which are not related to the regulations that I, as Minister, may make to regulate certain practices in the grocery goods sector. The backdrop to this issue is a particular problem in the supply chain.

As I have stated on previous occasions, companies operating in Ireland are free to establish and organise themselves in the most suitable forms to promote and run their businesses, provided they comply fully with relevant national and European Union legislation, including relevant legislation on the content of their financial statements. The requirements regarding the preparation and publication of the financial statements of limited companies and groups are determined by the first, fourth and seventh EU company law directives, Regulation (EC) No. 1606/2002 and international reporting standards adopted by the European Union under its provisions. These requirements are largely reflected in the Companies Act 1963, Companies (Amendment) Act 1986 and European Communities (Companies: Group Accounts) Regulation 1992, as amended. Equivalent requirements apply across the European Union. The fourth and seventh directives have been replaced by a new accounting directive 2013/34/EU, which is required to be transposed by July 2015. The requirements concerning the accounts of unlimited companies are governed by domestic legislation.

The extent to which profits are or are not disclosed is of general application and is not determined on the basis of the sector in which a company or group of companies operate. The requirements under company law are essentially the same for companies or groups that operate supermarkets as they are for companies or groups active in any other sector of the economy. I consider that a disclosure regime targeting a specific sector would be viewed as disproportionate and discriminatory and would have negative consequences in terms of business costs and in attracting foreign direct investment. For these reasons, I am not in a position to accept the amendments.

I have listened to the arguments advanced by the Deputies. Deputy Calleary claims that abuse of our public health laws is taking place. Every grocery undertaking must comply with our public health laws and there is no question that they do not all do so. We do not have a ban on loss leaders, which are a normal feature of competition everywhere. There is nothing wrong with offering loss leaders and sales are common in all business sectors. It is normal that sales are offered and consumers benefit from them.

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