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Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 13 May 1997

Vol. 479 No. 2

Written Answers. - Supermarkets Take-over.

Mary O'Rourke

Question:

284 Mrs. O'Rourke asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will give details of the latest Tesco action plan for Quinnsworth; if he will give details of each of the commitments he has received from Tesco; and if he will give details of the independent monitoring planned. [12669/97]

Mary O'Rourke

Question:

292 Mrs. O'Rourke asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment if he will lay before Dáil Éireann all correspondence from Tesco regarding commitments in relation to the take-over of Quinnsworth and Crazy Prices and his correspondence with Tesco. [12949/97]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 284 and 292 together.

In my reply during Oral Question Time on 22 April, I gave full details of the written commitments I received from the chief executive of Tesco Plc. by letter dated 4 April. Since then I have had further discussions with Tesco following which Tesco has also committed itself to an action plan for the Republic of Ireland that includes a number of key undertakings as follows:

Benchmarking — Forbairt and Bord Bia have been invited by Tesco to action a benchmarking audit to identify the level of existing Irish sourced products by sector and supplier size. Tesco intend to invite the ESRI to play a role in this process as an independent organisation.

Transition Planning Group — will be established with Forbairt and Bord Bia to advise Tesco on the implementation of their proposals to strengthen and grow the market. The group will draw on the expertise of the industry and any other relevant State body.

Annual Targets — Tesco's development plan, to be completed within eight weeks, will have annual targets by which purchases from Irish companies based in Ireland will increase; the targets to be reviewed regularly in conjunction with Forbairt and Bord Bia.

Head Office — will be maintained in Dublin as a base for Republic of Ireland business. This will act as a buying office for the vast majority of Irish sourced products for the Irish market. Functions such as buying, marketing and pricing will be under the authority of senior management based in Ireland.

Small Businesses — as part of the supplier development programme, the company will establish a technology transfer team of Tesco technologists based in Ireland to assist the Irish food industry in capacity building measures to enable Irish suppliers, particularly SMEs, to compete in the wider European food market.
Own Label — in expanding its own label products, Tesco will foster close relationships with Irish suppliers to develop their competitive capability and meet the company's requirements in Ireland.
Resources in Republic — Tesco's commercial Director for Europe has been deployed with responsibility for the Irish market and the development of supply opportunities for Irish suppliers in Ireland and within Europe.
The action plan to which the Deputy refers includes a number of important initiatives to ensure close and independent monitoring of performance.
As indicated above, Forbairt and An Bord Bia have been invited by Tesco to action a benchmarking audit to identify the level of existing Irish sourced products by sector and supplier size. The ESRI will be invited to play a role in this process as an independent organisation.
The Transition Planning Group to be established with Forbairt and An Bord Bia to advise Tesco on the implementation of their proposals to strengthen and grow the market will draw on the expertise of the industry and any other relevant State body.
A comprehensive development plan will be completed in close consultation with Forbairt and An Bord Bia by the end of June. The plan will incorporate annual targets by which purchases from Irish companies based in Ireland will increase. These targets will be reviewed regularly in conjunction with Forbairt and An Bord Bia.
Tesco has also agreed to have the progress towards these targets and initiatives reviewed by me.
Details of the undertakings have been publicised in the usual way. It is not normal practice for Ministers to lay correspondence received from individuals and companies before Dáil Éireann.
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