Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Carthy for the question. As he is aware, the unfair trading practices enforcement authority was established by my Department in April of last year when I signed a statutory instrument transposing the EU unfair trading practices, UTP, directive directly into Irish law. I want to assure the Deputy that this enforcement authority has been assigned all the necessary legal powers, including to investigate complaints from suppliers of agricultural and food products and to initiate legal proceedings for breaches of the unfair trading practices directives, which are defined in the UTP directive.

It is open to suppliers, including to primary producers, to engage with the enforcement authority on any concerns they may have in relation to UTPs. Information regarding enforcement authority can be found on the authority's website, where there are good resources and information. Suppliers can submit complaints in confidence through that website.

The authority has been engaging in an active awareness-raising campaign. It has been meeting with stakeholders throughout the supply chain to ensure compliance with the directive.

I am pleased to inform the Deputy that, following Government approval of a general scheme of the agricultural food supply chain Bill 2022 on 22 March last, the Bill has been forwarded to the office of the Parliamentary Counsel for priority drafting. It has been submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine for pre-legislative scrutiny. I hope that Deputy Carthy will be able to give it his support in order to deal with that pre-legislative scrutiny promptly. The general scheme of the Bill has also been published on my Department’s website and I am hopeful that the legal drafting will be finalised shortly, in the next few weeks, and that the Bill can be presented to both Houses of the Oireachtas in that timeframe.

This Bill will establish the office for fairness and transparency in the agrifood supply chain as a new independent statutory body. It will take over enforcement of the UTP directive. It will also have a specific role in analysing and reporting on price and market data in Ireland, with a view to bringing greater transparency to the agricultural and food supply chains. I know that we are all committed to that. The establishment of the new office will fulfil the Government's commitment to ensure transparency in the food supply chain for farmers and fishers. I want to thank Cabinet colleagues for their support on this to date.

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