The agri-food regulator is to be granted increased powers to compel businesses to provide relevant market data to help it improve transparency across agri-food supply chains.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon will bring a memo to Cabinet today with details of the measures, which ministers are expected to approve.
The changes will allow the independent State body to compel agri-food businesses to provide it with data around pricing, supply chains and salaries.
The regulator will also be able to issue fines for non-compliance, while an appeals mechanism for businesses will be established.
It is understood information provided will be anonymised, and there will be specific rules around the publication of any data deemed to be commercially sensitive.
The agri-food regulator was established two years ago with the aim of providing additional insights into price and market analysis across agri-food sectors.
However, the regulator has repeatedly failed to get businesses to provide it with data it had requested, prompting it to ask the Department of Agriculture on multiple occasions to be granted more powers to address this.
It is hoped any improved transparency arising from the additional powers will help stop any unfair trading practices and improve business relationships between farmers, processors and the powerful multiples that buy their produce.
The regulator is looking to strengthen the position of smaller businesses in particular, as well as improve competition across the agri-food sector.
In recent years, farmers and small food producers have complained that prices they are often paid are inadequate for them to make a living and undervalue their produce.
In August, a report by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) found that a key driver of food-price rises in supermarkets has been the increase of some agricultural product prices, which have been higher in Ireland than the European average.
In its high-level analysis of the grocery retail sector, the CCPC said that while grocery prices have increased significantly since 2021, they have done so at a slower pace than some of the key input costs, such as agricultural prices.
Minister Heydon has said that the agri-food regulator needs more power to do the job that it was established to do, in providing transparency around products.
"You can't have a regulator that when they require information, can't get it," he told reporters outside Government Buildings.
He said that the approach is about providing a balance to make sure the regulator has the powers it needs to report on markets and pricing, but to also ensure that there is not a disproportionate burden on business.
Additional reporting Karen Creed
