Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

No. We must take into account the fact that the price paid to farmers is not great.

The committee's report refers to the own brand problem. I say "problem" because problems have arisen from the widespread use of own brands. I am old enough to remember when there were no own brand products. When they began to be introduced, people were circumspect about them until they embraced them greatly. When one company appeared before the committee, it was clear that most of its business came from own brand products.

I do not know whose responsibility that is.

How can the Minister of State intervene in the market place? How can the Government decide a business can only have 10% of own brand products?. I do not think that is possible. If we live in a market environment driven by the market that is the price we pay. Yet, on the other hand, there is clearly a difficulty with the own brand product undercutting the branded product and being used to drive business by cutting the price of milk this week or the price of bread the following week. That is a question that any code may have to consider. I do not have the answer but it is a very big part of the mix of retailing in modern Ireland and in all countries. Own brands have been with us now for a while. They are very well developed and sophisticated. The notion that they are some kind of yellow pack goods is long gone.

The report said that no code could be implemented nor should it be. This will not be without taking into account what is happening in Europe. It is interesting to see that the voluntary code introduced in Europe turned out to be very voluntary - if such a thing could be so described - with very few people thus far signing up to it. The decision to have a statutory code here is welcome. Voluntary codes always have those difficulties. It is a question of how to align our proposed code with the European codes and regulations.

On the question of whether the role of ombudsman should be carried out by the National Consumer Agency, I wonder how many questions have been asked in the UK of the decision there to set up an ombudsman. No more than anyone else the UK is not looking to spend money either. I wonder why the option was for an ombudsman. Was it thought that placing it under another structure would dilute the power and give a statutory code in name only but without teeth? While I accept there are always some reservations about an ombudsman because of the cost, the idea of an ombudsman would send a very clear signal that the Government is serious about this piece of legislation. What do we know of the UK decision to set up such an ombudsman, where it has been decided that it is not that expensive to establish one?