Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

All these issues are areas of legitimate concern. Given the findings of all of the independent studies, the task force will be in a better position to make a judgment. Several developments are under way. One example is transposing the unfair trading practices directives into law. A public consultation process about a regulator for the sector is also an important development that could assist. There is no single silver bullet here.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has been before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine previously. This area requires constant vigilance. We monitor the price here and report in to an EU market reporting mechanism so that we can keep an eye on the price here relative to prices elsewhere in Europe. That is only one way of measuring whether we are out of kilter. It helps to have greater transparency around the value of the carcass and who is getting what. Retailers are getting so much and processers are getting so much. What is the consumer paying? What is the primary producer getting? We need greater transparency around those questions. All of those issues will be important in building a collaborative relationship between the players in the industry. The current level of engagement between the respective parties, especially processors and primary producers, is not conducive to an industry that, hopefully, has a long-term future here. We need to build those relationships.

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