New office can 'penalise the retailer' – but can’t guarantee farmers get a 'better price'

"We need a new independent office that will be a leading voice in promoting and, crucially, enforcing the principles of fairness and transparency"

McConalogue said that there’s "no real way you can intervene and set what price can be paid to farmers".

A new authority tasked with ensuring fairness in the agricultural and food supply chain will have the ability to “penalise” those deploying unfair trading practices — but it can’t guarantee that farmers will get a “better price” for the products they supply.

For the last number of weeks, the Oireachtas joint committee on agriculture, food and the marine has undertaken pre-legislative scrutiny of Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue’s bill which proposes to establish a new authority, to be known as the Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain.