Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon stated that the passing of legislation establishing the agri-food regulator is nearing its final stages and that its statutory powers will be in place within months.

The office will be a “significant one” with a large body of staff to resource its efforts to increase transparency in the agri-food supply chain but faced setbacks after its establishment was expected by the end of last year.

The minister argued that putting processors under the spotlight will be “critical” in safeguarding farmer confidence in factoring price movement in the pig sector.

He explained that the office has not been called an ombudsman to allow for additional powers to be granted to it – particularly compellability – which should allow a body to gather more evidence on an entity under investigation.

“Effectively, it is not called an ombudsman now because it has more power and that is a good sense of what this is and what we want it to be – and that is to shine a light and give transparency,” the minister said.

Factories’ downward pressure on pig prices is an area which the new regulator will have to examine if the number of pig units is to steady after a decades-long trend in declining numbers is to be halted, according to the IFA’s Roy Gallie.

Gallie claimed that price cuts appear to be “clandestine” decisions around which no concrete explanation linking the moves to international market movement is guaranteed.

“We are now accruing debts at unsustainable levels. If we do want to have a pig industry in this country, we have got to take an awful lot greater care of it,” Gallie commented.

“This is about transparency. [The way things are now] when I am told my pig price is down or my pig price is up, I have absolutely no idea what that market is or how it is being calculated.”

Labour challenge

Minister Heydon was pressed to seek changes on the labour permit system in place for non-EU farm workers, which farmers claimed is inadequate to deliver the labour demand in the sector at present.

You have to prove that you are not displacing European workers just for cheap labour

The minister heard that the labour deficit situation on pig units is putting farmers under pressure and that the same non-EU worker status is needed for general pig unit operatives as is granted to unit managers.

Farmers claimed that the issue is growing, putting them under pressure to keep their units running efficiently.

He said that the Department of Agriculture will back up legitimate cases put forward for permits to be granted, but that ultimate responsibility lies with the Department of Enterprise.

“You have to prove that you are not displacing European workers just for cheap labour, so there is a minimum wage that has to be paid and agreed and there is all those requirements that have to be met,” Minister Heydon said.