Results 5,461-5,480 of 10,842 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: We will do that. Returning to the earlier point about the grey and black, this is the difficulty. Someone in a contract with a retailer or another body for a long time who has been forced to have these grey practices included in the contract is in a weak position to say he or she does not want that anymore. Is that not the case? The purpose of the greying of those should be that I as an...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: As I mentioned, I was involved in the negotiations at EU level and the exact opposite argument was used: that we would set a minimum standard and the expectation was that member states would go much further. They will probably include all, if not a large amount, of the grey list and probably add new ones themselves. That was nearly five years ago at this stage and now here we are.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: A suggestion has been made by the Irish Natura and Hill Farmers Association that categorises as an unfair trading practice the rules around conformity, such as the colour of eggs or the size and shape of vegetables. It is lunatic stuff that leads to food being thrown out sometimes. Would the Minister consider the ban of that practice to be an appropriate unfair trading practice to be added...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: This was in relation to a late submission from Musgrave, which referenced the need to report on the price of products such as butter and mince as a new provision. It sought new information, yet in the April briefing to us the Department indicated that is already collected by the Department in relation to butter. What additional produce will be price-tracked?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: Are they required now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: They are not new powers given to the Commission to price-track those. That is already happening.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: Yes. It states, "Where the complainant so requests, the Office shall take the necessary measures for the appropriate protection of the identity of the complainant or the members". Thus they must request it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: The submissions we have received have said it should be the default position that confidentiality is protected unless there is a very strong reason to divulge information. As I said, we heard that from two very different actors, namely, the CCPC and the IFA. They essentially said confidentiality should be the default position.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: On part 4, it makes sense that where the parties to an independent alternative dispute resolution reach full and final conclusion, the office may consider the issue closed. Is there an inference, and if so, can it be made more explicit, that where they do not reach a resolution, the office then resumes its consideration?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: This head mentions that the Minister may consult the office regarding proposals for legislation in terms of fairness and transparency. The office could bring proposals but there is no obligation on the Minister to act. Is there a mechanism by which, at a minimum, there would be an obligation on the Minister to outline why he or she has not acted?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: On general powers of inspection, providing for seizing documents or equipment, do those powers include the power to identify beneficial ownership of an entity? It is head 46. It is on the general power of inspection. If a complaint is made against a body - large processors, for example - will the inspectors or authorised officers have the right to identify the beneficial owner?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: That is not necessarily the same thing as the beneficial owner. The person in charge of the premises could be a company in the Isle of Man. It might not be the person who owns the companies.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: Okay. That is okay for now.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: On that, the time limit for instituting proceedings is two years. It seems to be fairly short. We have a number of submissions that have advocated for three years. It appears to be an incredibly tight timeframe for proceedings to be brought within two years from the date of the alleged commission of the offence. Considering that this is a body that has to carry out a piece of work, make a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: One of the submissions stated that the time limit of three years would cater for a potential delay on the part of the complainant to bring a complaint to the office in the first instance. One can see that if somebody only realises he or she has been subject to an unfair trading practice perhaps six months after it happens, when maybe an accountant brings it to his or her attention, and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: The level of the potential fine on conviction on indictment of €500,000 might appear to be a large sum, but it is not for some of the operators. The transposition of the ECN+ directive this year gave the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, power to issue fines of up to €10 million or 10% of turnover. The general data protection regulation, GDPR, provides for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: It is the greatest penalty that can be applied.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: For any offence in this.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: I ask the Minister to look at that and to look at the legislation the Dáil has passed. There are two legislative measures in particular, but the one relating to the CCPC is the most appropriate on that. I have a question about head 55, which is about the exact opposite. It provides for a fixed penalty of €250 to €1,000. Can we get a sense of what type of infringements...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: General Scheme of the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (29 Jun 2022)

Matt Carthy: The €1,000 is the maximum.