Price cuts at supermarkets must not come at the expense of farmers, Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week programme he warned that the newly established Food Regulator had strong powers to bring prosecutions and issue fines of up to €10 million where there are unfair trading practices, including in cases where farmers are unfairly treated.
Asked whether supermarkets would have to declare their profits on the Irish parts of their businesses, he said the Food Regulator's office would have the capacity to ensure transparency.
Mr McConalogue has also urged Fine Gael MEPs and their grouping in the European Parliament, the European People’s Party (EPP), to return to negotiations on the proposed new EU Nature Restoration law.
The new legislation commits that 20% of EU land and sea area would be returned to nature.
It would provide for the re-wetting of bogs in Ireland, and the rewilding of farmland.
A key vote on the legislation is to take place in the European Parliament this week.
The EPP, of which Fine Gael is a member, walked away from negotiations on the new legislation, and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he believes the law goes "too far".
However Mr McConalogue said he was "very, very disappointed" to see the EPP leave the negotiations.
He said this was not the way to get a proportionate outcome.
"What we now need to see is the EPP rejoining those negotiations at European level and we need a balanced proportionate outcome."
"Nature restoration is absolutely essential, we must make sure we work with nature and restore nature," he said.
"We need to see all Irish MEPs work to get a good outcome here."
The minister said the European Commission had indicated that they would put in place a fund at EU level to pay farmers who take part in nature restoration.
"Farmers must be paid and fully compensated for the very important work they are carrying out on behalf of the public," he added.
Department monitoring fodder supply
Addressing concerns about a potential shortage of fodder because of the recent spell of dry weather, Mr McConalogue said the Department of Agriculture was closely monitoring the supply of fodder in the country.
He said he had ordered a survey of fodder and had put in place a fund to assist farmers with the cost of producing fodder.
He said grass growth rate in the south and southeast of the country had been behind the rate it was at last year but that support would be provided to farmers in areas where fodder shortages emerge.
