Last week in the Dail, the Tanaiste seemed to take at face value public assurances from Tesco, that their sourcing of international brands and new allocation of shelf space in its stores, would not be to the detriment Irish suppliers. The Tanaiste also stated that herself and Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith would "keep a very keen eye on the situation".

Well if the Tanaiste was keeping a keen eye on the Irish Times she would have seen that Tesco's assurances, in which she put so much trust, were well wide of the mark.

In fact it is now obvious from coverage in the Irish Times over the last few days that the public statement was disingenuous to say the least. According to the Irish Times: "Tesco Ireland is seeking price cuts of up to 20 per cent from Irish suppliers to guarantee their place on the shelves of its newly reconfigured stores".

In the same story, online ezine Retail Intelligence quoted one Irish supplier as saying: "If they bring this in across all their stores I will lose 50 per cent of my business." Another claimed he would lose 65 per cent on business for one of his top brands.

The Irish Times also revealed Tesco Ireland's profit margin, which has long been a closely-guarded secret, was 9.3 per cent last year and is projected to rise to 9.5 per cent this year. This compares with a margin of under 6 per cent in its parent company.

According to reliable industry sources many Irish brands are having their shelf space cut by between 40% and 60%, which will have a serious impact on these brands and their businesses. This will inevitably lead to jobs losses; indeed again according to the Irish Times Tesco itself has already let go 100 people from its own headquarters in Dun Laoghaire as a result of the strategy.

The Tanaiste appears to be oblivious to the threat to Irish jobs and to the Irish food sector posed by Tesco's new strategy. It is now clear that a company which was earning super profits from its Irish operations is using its new sourcing strategy to pressurise Irish suppliers into price reductions.

I would like to know if the Tanaiste has met with, or requested a meeting with, Tesco to ask them precisely what they are up, and if she is willing to bring in Fair Trade legislation to ensure suppliers have some protection against the market dominance of the major retailers.

The food and drink sector in Ireland currently accounts for around 230,000 jobs, it is one of the few sectors that is dominated by Irish rather than international firms and one of the few industries that provides employment throughout the country and not just in our major urban centres.

To say that is of strategic importance to the Irish economy is an understatement. Furthermore if Irish suppliers and brands are gradually squeezed out of their home market their ability to innovate and launch new products will be severely compromised putting the long term future of the industry in doubt and reducing the Irish food sector to a supplier of cheap commodities for export.