The failure and past reluctance of the Irish Farmers' Association to provide evidence to back up its allegation of price-fixing in the beef industry has led to the establishment of an independent inquiry, according to a note circulated to Cabinet yesterday.
The Government yesterday announced the appointment of an independent group to examine these allegations, as well as the big gap between the price paid to farmers and that paid by consumers for beef.
This decision, according to the note to Ministers, follows the failure of the Competition Authority to get evidence from the IFA or the Department of Agriculture to support the claims of anti-competitive practices in the industry. The Competition Authority has been investigating the matter since 1997.
However, the note suggests that the IFA had appeared reluctant to pursue the issue as recently as last September. It says the Competition Authority met the IFA in September last and formed the view that "some form of understanding had been reached between the IFA and processors, and the IFA had no desire to push the matter".
The three members of the independent group - the former secretary general of the Department of Enterprise and Employment, Mr Kevin Bonner; Prof Seamus Sheedy, an agricultural economist; and the economist Mr Colm McCarthy - are to report within three months, and their evidence will be passed to the Competition Authority.
The Cabinet note says the Competition Authority also "made a number of attempts to arrange meetings via the IFA with individual farmers who might be in a position to provide first-hand evidence of recent developments, with little success".
The note also says: "The Department of Agriculture and a number of other parties who claimed to have information relevant to the inquiry . . . proved unable to provide any useful information".
However, after newspaper reports of the imminent dispute appeared in early January, the Competition Authority again approached the IFA and this time received an affidavit and other documentation from the IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon.
The lack of sufficient evidence has led to this new independent inquiry, according to the Tanaiste, Ms Harney. The Cabinet note says that while the Competition Authority investigation remains open, "at present there is insufficient evidence to apply for search warrants".
The independent group will be able to act more freely and informally than the Competition Authority, according to Ms Harney, as "information gatherers" for the authority.
The IFA said last night that it rejected the Tanaiste's statement that it did not supply any information on price-fixing to the Competition Authority.
It said that as far back as May 1997 it had asked the authority to undertake an investigation into anti-competitive practices in the meat industry. "The onus was clearly on the Competition Authority to find evidence and state whether the cartel existed or not," the statement said.