Minister for Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue, has confirmed that Ireland is to have its very own ‘Food Tsar’ – a new food controller so to speak.
The indication is that the new Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain will be in place before the end of this year
While the principle of this decision has to be welcomed, the fine print of the new arrangement will have to be scrutinised in very fine detail.
So here’s the issue for me: if the new person appointed is given the same powers as his or her equivalent in the UK, very little progress will be made in delivering realistic prices for Irish farmers.
If fairness and transparency is to mean anything for primary producers, surely it means that the person in charge of the new ‘supply chain’ office must have real influence over the supermarkets and other retailers.
The principle ‘trickle feed’ economics has been very much to the fore in the UK over recent days as UK prime minister Liz Truss tried to explain these principles which underpin the latest UK mini budget.
But, of course, farmers could have told the latest Conservative politician now in 10 Downing Street that such an approach does not work, as they have been ‘patiently’ waiting for the supermarkets to throw them the odd crumb or two from their vast tables for the past few decades.
The reality is that, unlike water, money and wealth do not flow downhill. They stick with the guys who grabbed all the loot in the first place.
Lazarus, referenced in the Parable of the Rich Man, was the first recorded person to find out about trickledown economics. And, unfortunately, he died!
So let’s hope the new CEO of the Office for Fairness and Transparency in the Agri-Food Supply Chain is given real powers by the Irish government to get on with the job in hand.
In so doing, that person should be provided with a support team that includes representatives from every sector making up the farming and food chain. Specifically, this will guarantee total transparency within the decision making systems that are put in place.
Meanwhile, let’s not forget that the home market only accounts for 15% of the food produced in Ireland.
Back in the day Phil Hogan, in his then capacity as a European Commissioner, committed to putting in place a fairness and equality system that would embrace farming and food across the entire European Union.
Has this trail gone cold?
Minister McConalogue should investigate this issue as a matter of priority.