Results 7,521-7,540 of 24,051 for speaker:Charlie McConalogue

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)

Charlie McConalogue: Powers relating to competition are under competition law-----

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)

Charlie McConalogue: At the moment, we do not have an independent office with credibility that assesses, reports and plays an active role in the context of having oversight over and ensuring transparency in respect of the food chain. If we think back to the beef protests of 2019, so much of that was about a lack of trust and transparency. In order to address that, the beef task force was set up. A number of...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: It can examine the entire supply chain and assess what is 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)

Charlie McConalogue: I do not have a firm view on that at this stage. It is important that, through the primary legislation, we have a mechanism in place. We would need to see how the office is being used. What is fresh in my mind is the experience regarding forestry appeals. A vast number of appeals that could be submitted simply by firing off an email, which went into an appeals committee that got clogged...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: I wish to correct a previous answer I gave. The board will comprise a chair and five members. The process will be similar to that of most State boards in the country. It will be an open application process, through the Public Appointments Service. Advertisements will go out, people will apply and the criteria for the various board members would be stated. For example, as I said, two of...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: Can the Deputy repeat the question?

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)

Charlie McConalogue: A number of unfair trading practices are specified, and the office will have the power and the capacity to investigate and audit them. In terms of wider pricing and value in the supply chain as such, the office can do reports in regard to that. It can assess what is going on in the market and make a report on that. In regard to unfair trading or practices, it will have the capacity to do...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: The office will not have the power to require compensation, but a company can be prosecuted and fines can be imposed on it. There are no specific financial remedies for suppliers in the Bill. What the Bill provides is that the office can issue a compliance notice in the first instance to bring an end to an unfair trading practice. The failure to comply with the compliance notice is 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)

Charlie McConalogue: No. Below-cost selling will not be banned. Various trading practices are being prohibited in which a supplier would engage with somebody who is larger than him and to whom he is selling a product, but it does not address price.

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)

Charlie McConalogue: I will ask Mr. Collins to give a brief update. He is managing the UTPEA and knows how it is currently operating.

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)

Charlie McConalogue: We have not yet made a final determination on that, but our estimation is there could potentially be up to 15 or 20 people.

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)

Charlie McConalogue: Yes, we are looking at a wide range of expertise. Perhaps Mr. Collins would comment on the type of competencies that will be required. A range of specialist competencies will be required to staff the agency and enable it to do its work. Mr. Collins might comment further on the type of competencies that will be required.

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)

Charlie McConalogue: I will ask Ms Robinson to come in and give a further update. We engaged with the original Groceries Code Adjudicator, Christine Tacon, who set up the office and pioneered it. We took some advice from her on the approach we have taken in the Bill. I will ask Ms Robinson to add to what I have said.

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)

Charlie McConalogue: Something that is really important in the legislation is that it gives the capacity to amend and adapt the unfair trading practices that are listed as we go along. It is essential that we take feedback and monitor what is happening in the marketplace. We must work to ensure there is fairness and no unfair practices. Where we identify practices that need to be addressed or included, we will...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: The key point is the effectiveness of the office and the work it does, not necessarily its title. I have heard a lot of floating of the regulator idea, including a meat regulator. However, when one probes further, there is very little detail as to what is meant by that and the substance of what is being suggested. The key point is that we have an office that brings transparency and...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: First, there was evidence and case law assessed around the introduction of minimum unit pricing for alcohol, for example, that indicated and gave a strong basis that if we were introducing minimum pricing, it needed be for health reasons as opposed to other reasons, and that if we were doing it for other reasons, it would constitute market interference. Minimum unit pricing would seem...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: A key role will be to examine and shine a light on what is happening in the supply chain. The way to do so is to assess where the market is at and trace that back. Also, the body will monitor changes over time, analyse the dynamic behind them, assess whether the changes are related and shine a light on the situation. That is going to be a key function of this office. Also, the office will...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: There are world markets for a lot of products such as grain, milk, etc. and the prices tend to equalise. For example, the price of milk around the world is similar. Therefore, one does not expect too much variation in what happens. The key thing, particularly concerning anti-competitiveness or cartel-like behaviour, is people coming together to keep prices lower than what they should be.

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)

Charlie McConalogue: I ask Mr. Kinsella to comment on the role played by competition law, etc. I do think that having an independent office generates credibility. It keeps a close watch on the market, shines a light on what happens in the market and monitors all of that. Such work can be very helpful in identifying what is happening in the market and the dynamics. One can move from paying above the European...

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)

Charlie McConalogue: Therefore, having a separate office that can and does price reporting, and can examine a matter, shine a light on it and speak with authority about what is happening will be a good thing.