Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The difficulty is the Minister said the exact same thing about the timeframe this time last year. I followed the unfair trading practices regulation at an EU level throughout the entire process. I was a shadow rapporteur on the file and was part of the negotiations. I was disappointed with the final outcome because I feared the directive was far too minimal and member states would transpose it in a minimal fashion. To this point, that is what has happened. It has been transposed through a statutory instrument without any additional measures being included.

I wish the Minister well and I hope this new authority has the teeth that will allow farmers and consumers to be treated fairly within the food chain because, currently, they are not. Meat processors and retailers are acting in a cartel-like fashion where they are exploiting the people producing the food and the end purchasers of the food. Will the new office have the powers of a corporate enforcement office? Will it be able to examine every facet of the market chain to ensure undue profits are not being gleaned on the backs of hard-working farmers or hard-pressed consumers?

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