Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

-----and they were fantastic. I will go through the issues very quickly. Regulations will be based on the draft code published by the Minster in 2011. The main issue for competition in the grocery goods sector is entry into the market. In this context, the retail planning guidelines were one of the main issues identified. That is from an earlier contribution. There is a commitment in Action Plan for Jobs to examine consumer price issues. A report on that will be issued by Forfás in the coming months which will examine the reason price levels are so high in certain areas within the market.

The EU measures were a voluntary set of principles, not a code. They were adopted in September 2013. There are many players in the chain who have not signed up to those principles, which are similar to those behind the draft code published by the Minister in 2011. If a retailer or a supplier is not engaged in any prohibitive practice, they will have nothing to fear from the new regulations.

The issue of dominance in the market came up in the debate. Dominance in the market is not illegal but an abuse of that dominance is illegal.

I listened carefully to Senator Quinn and Senator O'Brien on the issue of hello money and the subtle practices around trying to get a product placed on the shelves. We all appreciate that there are well-established practices one engages in when one tries to get a product onto the shelf, but the Competition (Amendment) Act 2006 prohibits hello money being demanded. Natural justice demands, however, that defendants hear from their accusers. I am a former Labour Party spokesperson on agriculture and have dealt with the issues of hello money and sharp practices, but we appear to have a culture here where people are unwilling to challenge the type of paradigm that exists regarding pressures put on by certain multiples. If it is happening, somebody should come forward. There is legislation to deal with the issue but until somebody comes forward, what do we do? That is a rhetorical question.

That explains the issue of profits in respect of some of the large multiples to which the Senator referred. It is well known that some large retailers are private companies and are not covered by some company law requirements.

When I was spokesperson on agriculture I met regularly with the IFA which always says that it is a price-taker. The IFA is the most powerful lobby in this country and I have always failed to understand how it is a price-taker. I have told the current and previous presidents of the IFA and others across the spectrum that I do not understand why the most powerful lobby in this country is a price-taker for the purposes of its interaction. I understand what happens inside the farm gate and the relationship with a co-op and we do not know what the dynamic of the market will be after 2015. As a personal opinion, I imagine that price levels will rise on the global market and will then stream off but I imagine there will be arrangements by which milk producers will strike a price with their individual co-ops to achieve stability within the price ranges for a guaranteed period. I am not on top of that matter as we speak but I take the point made about milk. I pay tribute to Deputy Doyle, Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine because the committee's recommendation No. 9, which is very interesting, speaks to an all-Ireland market for contracted winter milk and that should be encouraged. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, should take that on board.

As there is legislation pending in this area I and my officials who are here will take on board the points made today, and the issues pertaining to agriculture and the food sector will be conveyed to the Minister. I hope that I have interpreted correctly Senator Mary Ann O'Brien's point about the nanny state. I agree with the point. The retail sector is robust and if one has a good product it will make it onto the shelf but there is a subtlety about how that happens and how high up or low down the product will be. There is no sharp practice there. We all understand that but we have to distinguish between that practice, which is inherent to the retail trade, and "hello" money.

I have not even begun to address all of the Senators' points. In the UK only one adjudicator was appointed. There are no full-time staff, the staff are sent in as required. The estimated cost was €5 million and I understand the point made about that but we propose including the role within the new NCA competition area and there will be a suite of resources available to enforce the role as required. On the issue of enforceability abroad, this applies to all member states that have codes or regulations. This is one of the issues raised in the EU Green Paper which the Commission is considering. It remains to be seen how that will emerge because I understand that it would not be part of the co-decision procedure but will be a function of whether member states take it on board. We have to acknowledge that there are two opposing lobbies within some of the employer and business representative organisations, to which members pay subscriptions.

There is no specific recommendation on own brands but I hail from a town that was once the bastion of the Irish sugar industry and during my college years I worked in Irish Sugar. I recall one day taking off the Irish Sugar label, placing it on the ground and putting on another own-brand label. The price differential was 10p at the time. Two packets of the same product sit beside each other in the same shop. Is that a consumer issue? Is it a marketing issue? Is it a question of the psychology of markets? If I buy a packet of SuperValu tea it is as good as some of the other brands that are synonymous with Cork. Does that come off the same line? I do not know. As a consumer I am conscious of it, that is the point I am making. Consumers are very intelligent about their choices and we have to allow for that dynamic and not necessarily legislate for it. That is a personal opinion but we will see what the legislation will bring.