Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 October 2020
791. Deputy Martin Kenny asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if his Department has a system in place to commence providing beef market price transparency data and information from January 2021 onwards; the way in which such a system operates; the various headings under which data will be provided; the timeframe this information will be submitted to the Commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31296/20]
View answerI welcome initiatives at EU level to improve market price transparency. The establishment of Market Observatories for the various commodities has resulted in a significantly improved market overview in terms of increased transparency, dissemination of market data, and analysis, for the EU as a whole and by Member State.
The EU Commission Implementing Regulation EU 2017/1185 aims to further increase market transparency by collecting more detailed price data at various points along the food supply chain. While the timeline for collection and publication of data under this new initiative remains January 2021, discussions are ongoing at the various EU sectoral committees with regard to product definitions and timelines for submission of data to the Commission.
Under the new measure, Ireland will have an obligation to report additional price information across certain products in the dairy and meat sectors. In terms of beef, additional reporting requirements will be required for certain types of cuts.
At national level, as the Deputy will be aware, the Programme for Government includes a commitment to the establishment of a new office of a National Food Ombudsman, which will have a specific role in analysing and reporting on price and market data in Ireland. The legislative requirements for the establishment of this new Office are currently under consideration by my Department and the 2021 Budget includes an initial provision of €1 million to assist with start-up costs.
