Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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273. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the FTE number of staff working in the unit within his Department with responsibility for oversight and implementation of the unfair trading practices, by year, since its establishment until the establishment of the agrifood regulator; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6978/24]

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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274. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the FTE number of staff currently employed by the agrifood regulator; the allocation provided to it in the year 2023 and under Budget 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6979/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 273 and 274 together.

The Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022 was introduced to the Dáil in December 2022. This Bill provided for the establishment of a new, independent office to enforce the EU Unfair Trading Practices Directive and to provide an independent price and market analysis reporting function. This new office named An Rialálaí Agraibhia, or the Agri-Food Regulator, was established on 13th December 2023 and took over the enforcement functions from the interim Unfair Trading Practices (UTP) Enforcement Authority which was previously located within my Department.

The UTPEA, when it was an office of my Department, was staffed with an FTE of 3 officers in 2021; FTE of 4 officers in 2022 and FTE of 5 officers in 2023 up until 13 December 2023. This figure includes the CEO-designate who was appointed on 22nd May 2023, initially taking over as head of the interim Unfair Trading Practices Enforcement Authority before becoming CEO of An Rialálaí Agraibhia on establishment day at which stage the functions of the UTPEA transferred to An Rialálaí Agraibhia.

Now that An Rialalaí Agriabhia has been established, recruitment is being conducted on a phased basis. To date, a total of 5 FTE officers are serving with the Agri Food Regulator.

Budget 2023 provided an allocation of €4 million for the Agri Food Regulator, with Budget 2024 providing an allocation of €2.5 million. Budgetary requirements for the Office continue to be monitored on an on-going basis in consultation with the Department of Public Expenditure NDP Delivery and Reform.