Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson for the efficient operation today. I thank all four Senators present for dealing efficiently with the Bill and for their contributions throughout the process, going back to the start. I thank them and others from both the Dáil and Seanad for everything done to bring this Bill to where it is today. I appreciate it. I thank Members of the Dáil who so constructively engaged with the Bill. I also thank the staff of the Seanad and the many offices of the Oireachtas, including the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the Bills Office and the Office of the Attorney General for the massive work that went into producing this Bill. I especially thank my staff. I am joined today by Ms Angela Robinson and Mr. Ray Sheehy who have been instrumental in bringing the Bill forward. Ms Robinson has been with it from the start. At times I felt we should name the office after her, given the input she has made and how she has steered it through from the outset. She took it, put massive energy into it and was committed to it, as did Mr. Sheehy and all the team under the leadership of Ms Sinéad McPhillips, Ms Siobhán Ball and Mr. Louis Watters, Mr. John Kinsella on the legal side as well as Tony Wann who worked with Ms Ball, Mr. Sheehy, Ms Robinson and Ms McPhillips. From the outgoing unfair trading practices unit, I also recognise Mr. Noel Collins for his role in establishing it, working closely with Mr. Aiden Kelly, my previous private secretary, and Ms Becky Reynolds.

I also wish the best to Ms Niamh Lenehan, the new agrifood regulator, who is already in place. She has taken up office and has been awaiting this moment, the passing of the legislation. She is a fine person to be taking up this role as the inaugural agrifood regulator, leading the establishment of the office. I wish her well in taking this on.

I have been committed to this for many years. Senator Paul Daly and I soldiered in opposition a few years ago in identifying this as a real need. It is great to see it come to fruition today. I recognise the work of all my colleagues across the three parties in the Government for including it in the programme for Government and bringing it to enactment.

I will reflect on it for a moment. The key role the regulator will play will be to publish analysis and information about price and market data and in the process ensure there is transparency in the food supply chain. There is capacity, through the legislation and regulation, for the office to evolve and the powers necessary to enable it to carry out its work are part of the legislation. The process we have undergone from the initial pre-legislative scrutiny report, from which 18 of the 20 recommendations were substantially or fully accommodated in the Bill, to the amendments we accepted, ensured that all stakeholders worked together to ensure we have the most robust office and legislation possible. Alongside that, we now have the regulator who will lead on it and do a historic job. We can all be glad to have participated in delivering this first statutory independent office to ensure farm families get the respect they deserve in the food supply chain.