Ireland: Call for ombudsman in grocery 'wild west'

Irish Times, July 1, 2009

Ireland needs a retail ombudsman and code of practice because the grocery sector is "bedevilled with intimidation", Minister of State for Agriculture Trevor Sargent has insisted in the Dáil.

He was responding to warnings by Andrew Doyle (FG, Wicklow) that there is "no sheriff" to monitor retailers, the "wild west" of the food sector.

During agriculture questions Mr Sargent said "suppliers are afraid to say publicly what they will say privately to me for fear of being identified, which is causing a lack of transparency in the system".

Full article at http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/0701/1224249836909.html