Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the legislation but I would like the Minister of State to give us an undertaking that if this does not prove to be effective we will revisit it at an early stage. It is worrying that there have been only 32 convictions in 21 years and that no one has gone to prison. We are all conscious of anti-competitive practices. Everything we do must be in the interest of the consumer.

A situation was brought to my attention after Christmas. A large supermarket chain forced its suppliers to stack shelves to a high level and provide vast stock which was not sold over the Christmas period. The supplier was forced to take the goods back and did not get paid. That is an uncompetitive practice. Much of the food was perishable and went to landfill. That is outrageous. Such a practice forces small shops out of business because they cannot compete and it imposes huge costs on suppliers who are struggling to survive. They are forced to supply vast amounts of perishable goods and are not paid if the goods are not sold. We must be conscious of anti-competitive practices.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh is right when he says many small shops are being forced out of business because they cannot compete. I recently spoke to a small shopkeeper who told me he cannot buy goods from producers for the price at which they are being sold in supermarkets. He was buying goods in large multiples and selling them at a small profit in his shop. It was cheaper for him to do that than to buy directly from a producer. That is anti-competitive and we must tackle it.

There is a job of work to be done. We need to keep a close eye on how this legislation is working. If it is not successful we will need to revisit it.

I strongly support Senator Kelly with regard to the whistleblower system. If it is working in the United Kingdom we should look at what is working in other jurisdictions and take it on board.