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

I thank the Senators. Senator Darragh O'Brien to a degree has answered the question. The Government proposes to deal with this issue by way of regulation and not by way of a primary provision in the Acts. To answer Senator O'Brien, the Government is developing the regulations in parallel as, obviously, the Department cannot finalise regulations until the final version of the Bill is seen. However, I have committed that there will be consultations, including with the Oireachtas committee, in order that there will be an opportunity to discuss this matter.
Essentially, the argument here is that on the issue of payment, the Bill clearly sets out at section 63B(2)(q) that the regulations may "specify the manner and timeframe in which payments for grocery goods supplied to relevant grocery goods undertakings are to be made". It is believed that the issue of the timeframe for payment should be considered in the context of any regulations, rather than in primary legislation, to allow for more flexibility if required in any statutory instrument. Payments also are covered by the prompt payment legislation and this must be factored into any regulations. Setting out a period of 30 days or indeed any set period of days in primary legislation may be too rigid compared with the making of regulations and thus, whilst the text of any regulations is not yet finalised or agreed, I believe these amendments are neither required nor appropriate to this Bill.