Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This amendment seeks to reduce the turnover threshold from €50 million to €10 million. The €50 million figure is the threshold to carry the new obligations in respect of recording contracts, having compliance officers and so on.

First, it is intended to ensure these provisions are not disproportionate by including a broader swathe of processors, suppliers and retailers who are not regarded as major players in the national grocery goods sector. Second, the European Commission uses a threshold figure of €50 million in respect of turnover for making the distinction between a small and medium enterprises and what constitutes a large firm. We are obviously trying to contain this to large firms. Third, we should be anxious to ensure regulatory and red tape obligations imposed by regulatory authorities on small and medium enterprises are kept to a minimum and the reduction in the threshold levels as proposed would see a much higher incidence of administrative burden on many SMEs in the grocery goods sector. If the turnover threshold was reduced from €50 million to €10 million, the number of retailers and wholesalers that would be affected, according to CSO figures and definitions, would rise from approximately 210 to approximately 3,250 businesses. Fourth, in the UK the threshold for qualifying "designated retailers" for the purposes of the Groceries (Supply Chain Practices) Market Investigation Order 2009 is any retailer with a turnover exceeding £1 billion with respect to the retail supply of groceries in the UK. A €50 million turnover was estimated based on an extrapolation of the qualifying turnovers under the UK legislation.

Finally, on the basis of the public consultation process undertaken on this issue, the figure of €50 million emerged as a suggested figure. For all the above reasons, the proposed figure in the Bill has been set at €50 million. In seeking not to be disproportionate about the ambit of this provision to grocery goods undertakings in the Irish market, it is considered that any reduction in the qualifying threshold of €50 million would impose an unfair burden on many firms in this sector and thus I am not in a position to accept the amendment.

Furthermore, this applies equally to large retailers or large suppliers. It cuts both ways. Large suppliers will be included at the €50 million threshold. Therefore, there is no distinction being made between retailers and suppliers.