The Irish Farmers' Association - IFA

Lobbying Organisation The Irish Farmers' Association - IFA

Date published 20 Jan, 2023

Relevant Matter Public policy or programme

Public Policy Area Agriculture

Period 1 Sep, 2022 to 31 Dec, 2022

Specific Details Agriculture and Food Supply Chain Bill 2022

Intended results That the Office proposed under the Bill should be called the National Food Regulator. That the maximum fine for offences under the terms of the Bill be increased to €10million or 10 per cent of global turnover, whichever is greater, to act as a deterrent. The key recommendations made by the Committee are that • The title of the office as constituted should be the National Food Regulator instead of ‘the Office for Fairness and Transparency in Agri-Food Supply Chain' outlined in the General Scheme of the Bill; • The proposed Office should also have the power to require market sensitive data that isn't publicly published must be available to the proposed Office if requested to ensure fairness in the food supply chain; • The authority to ‘conduct random inspections on suppliers and buyers to ensure continued compliance with the rules on unfair trading practices' is included under ‘General functions and role of the Office' (Head 8) and ‘Particular functions of Office' (Head 9) of the Bill; • The Office be obliged to conduct and publish regular analysis and reports on comparable price and market information elsewhere in the EU, UK and among international trading partners, which could assist in comparing trends and determining whether domestic cartel-like behaviour could be taking place; • The suggested composition of the board of 6 members listed under Head 10 of the General Scheme is too small to adequately represent different parts of the agri-food sector and supply chain. The Committee believes that that the number of the proposed Office's board is expanded in line with the other state bodies and is made up of experienced representatives of participants involved throughout the agri-food food supply chain. For example, Teagasc and Bord Bia have 11 members on their boards which includes representation from farming representative organisations; • The time limit for prosecution for an offence under this Bill may be brought at any time be changed to at least 3 years after the date of the alleged offence, replacing the deadline of 2 years included under Head 50 in the Bill. The Committee believes that this is a tight deadline as due to the nature of the business of the sector it may take some time before a complainant may be aware that they have experienced an unfair trading practice; • The fine listed in Head 52(2)(b) of the General Scheme which is limited to €500,000 when a person commits an offence under sections 48(11) or 49(1) of the Bill is increased to €10 million or 10 per cent of an operator's global turnover, whichever is greater, in order to act as a deterrent to larger operators in committing an offence under this Bill.

Name of person primarily responsible for lobbying on this activity Tim Cullinan IFA President, Elaine Farrell IFA Director of Governance & Oireachtas Engagement. Robert Malone IFA Senior policy Executive, Tadhg Buckley IFA Director of Policy/Chief Economist

Did any Designated Public Official(DPO) or former Designated Public Official(DPO) carry out lobbying activities on your behalf in relation to this return? You must include yourself, and answer Yes, if you are a current DPO or a DPO at any time in the past. (What is a Designated Public Official?) No

Did you manage or direct a grassroots campaign? No

Was this lobbying done on behalf of a client? No

Lobbying activity

The following activities occurred for this specific Subject Matter Area.

Email (2-5)

Event / Reception (1)

Social Media (2-5)

Meeting (2-5)

Informal communication (2-5)

Designated public officials lobbied

The following DPOs were lobbied during this return period on this specific Subject Matter Area. These DPOs were involved in at least one of the Lobbying Activities listed above, but not necessarily all of them. As returns are specific to a Subject Matter Area the above Lobbying Activities may be associated with multiple returns.

Jackie Cahill TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Martin Browne TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Matt Carthy TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael Collins TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael Fitzmaurice TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Joe Flaherty TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Paul Kehoe TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Brian Leddin TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Michael Ring TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Victor Boyhan Senator (Seanad)

Lynn Boylan Senator (Seanad)

Paul Daly Senator (Seanad)

Tim Lombard Senator (Seanad)

Denis O'Donovan Senator (Seanad)

Leo Varadkar An Tánaiste (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Philip O'Callaghan Special Adviser (Department of the Taoiseach)

Mary Lou McDonald TD (Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas)

Martin Heydon Minister of State (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Charlie McConalogue Minister (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Colm Hayes Assistant Secretary (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Bill Callanan Chief Inspector (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Sinead McPhilips Assistant Secretary (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Martin Blake Chief Veterinary Officer (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Paul Dillon Assistant Secretary (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Patrick Donohoe Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Declan O'Rourke Special Adviser (Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)