Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know this is something Senators Boyhan, Lombard, Boylan and Daly would have looked at in detail with other joint committee members as part of the pre-legislative scrutiny process.The pre-legislative scrutiny report recommended that the new body be obliged to examine with a view to proposing mechanisms by which the purchase of foodstuffs below the cost of production could be introduced. As a result, the Bill provides mechanisms for the regulator to examine and make recommendations on any aspect of the agrifood supply chain.

The Senator's amendment mainly deals with selling below the cost of production. As he has mentioned and as I have spoken on a number of times as this legislation has proceeded through the Oireachtas, for most of the food and drink products we produce, the price is largely decided outside of the country, as 90% of food produced here, including on family farms, is exported. The ultimate price for produce is determined by what happens on the 180 international markets to which we export. However, the regulator will be able to bring transparency to what is happening in the food supply chain. The price and market reporting and analysis function within the Bill assigns powers to the regulator to ensure increased availability of market information with a view to strengthening the position of farmers, fishers and other suppliers in the agrifood supply chain against larger buyers with greater bargaining power.

Research also shows that a lack of market transparency and inequalities in bargaining power lead to market distortions with potentially negative effects on the competitiveness of the food supply chain as a whole. Reporting on the market by the regulator for agricultural and food products can provide farmers with important information to allow them improve decision-making. The more transparency we can bring to this area, the more we can ensure primary producers and farmers get a fair deal.

In the round, and bearing in mind our previous experience until the mid-2000s, when the groceries order prevented below-cost selling, we have been there and tried that. The ultimate impact is that it leads to increased administration, red tape and more costs for the consumers but does not achieve its core objective and mission and has been seen to fail to achieve any protection for the primary producers. That is the key rationale as to why we are introducing this office. We want to tackle that. The office, as we are setting it up, will achieve that and gives powers to ensure transparency in the supply chain to benefit primary producers. As the Senator has recognised, it is something to which we have given a strong airing throughout this process. On balance, there is a strong view across the Houses that going down this route is not the way to go.