Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is exactly why we held the meeting of the retail forum yesterday and it is also why I took advice from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, regarding options. I would like to get more advice from it concerning the options available to us in the context of delivering more transparency in the food supply chain to ensure consumers are paying reasonable prices. I hope to get this advice in the coming weeks.

Additionally, we completed the passage of legislation in this House last night to progress a new agrifood regulator, whose job it will be to try to provide more transparency on this supply chain in terms of protecting primary producers and ensuring processors and retailers are delivering fair prices for consumers. There is a lot happening in this space. We must, however, ensure we think through any new initiatives because several countries have suggested bringing forward price caps and have then decided not to do that. Others have tried to limit margins and then have had to change those decisions. We must ensure, therefore, we have a functioning enterprise and competitive market here while also ensuring we protect consumers. The Government will act to do this.

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