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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 6 Nov 1997

Vol. 482 No. 5

Written Answers - Supermarkets Takeover.

Ivan Yates

Ceist:

34 Mr. Yates asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps, if any, she is taking to ensure that Tesco will honour the commitments made to the previous Government in relation to the acquisition of the Quinnsworth supermarket chain; the studies, if any, which have been carried out by her Department into the range of Irish products continuing to be sold by the group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17614/97]

Prior to its take-over of the Power Supermarkets chain earlier this year, Tesco gave a number of written undertakings to the Government. Central commitments given relate to growing the business; maintaining a buying facility in Ireland; ensuring, with the aid of a benchmarking exercise, that the amount purchased from Irish suppliers will be maintained and increased; adopting a developmental approach to fostering new and emerging Irish suppliers; ensuring that, as business requirements in Ireland evolve, there will be ongoing consultation with distributors, and ensuring that any future changes to supply arrangements will include consultation with representative organisations.

I recently met Tesco's chief executive and his Irish management team to emphasise the critical importance of adhering to these undertakings. Tesco assured me that they would abide, not only by the letter, but also by the spirit of the undertakings they have entered into. These assurances have subsequently been confirmed to me in writing.

As regards studies, while my Department has not conducted any studies to date into products being sold by Tesco, the ESRI has been commissioned by Forbairt and Bord Bia, at the invitation of Tesco, to undertake a benchmarking audit of existing supply levels in order to establish the level of Irish manufactured products sourced by the Tesco group. The results of the first phase of this study should be available later this month. Targets for trade growth between Irish producers and Tesco will be established when the current levels of trade have been determined.

I will be monitoring closely all aspects of Tesco's operation in Ireland in the interest of domestic suppliers and distributors.

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