Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I regret that it is a fallacy to say the regulator has strong powers to obtain information. There is a Sinn Féin amendment which I assume the Minister will accept that provides that the regulator may seek various pieces of information from businesses in the food chain.

All the regulator can do is seek it. It is not an offence to not provide the information. It is not an offence whatsoever not to give the information. While the regulator will have the power to enter premises to inspect documents, this can be done in only two specific circumstances, namely, with the permission of the owner of the premises or with a warrant from the District Court, where they suspect an offence has taken place. However, it is not an offence not to provide the information that has been requested. The Minister is therefore setting up a regulator to fail. He is setting up all the trappings of an office that will be able to provide and obtain transparency without any powers to do so. It is historic the Minister is setting up the office, but it is a historic disappointment that he is doing so without giving the regulator the legal powers that will be required to succeed.

I would ask that the Minister continues to consider these amendments and examine the matter further. I believe he wants to do the right thing, but I am less certain about some areas of his Department, given the track record of senior civil servants from that Department who have gone on to work for processors and in the food sector generally. It seems to me to be evidence of how skewed the Department is in its approach in favour of processors and large conglomerates, rather than in favour of primary producers. That is very evidently the focus of the Department. Unfortunately, this Bill does not bring transparency to bear in the food chain.

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