Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has asked An Rialálaí Agraibhia (Agri-Food Regulator) to "clearly define" the impediments to obtaining data necessary to carry out its functions.

Last month, Niamh Lenehan, the CEO of the regulator, said that the board of the body had written to Minister Heydon to seek an “urgent meeting”.

The purpose of the meeting, Lenehan said, would be to discuss the regulator’s request for additional powers, which was submitted last September.

These additional powers would allow for the regulator to compel businesses in the agri-food supply chain to provide price and market information for reporting purposes.

Now, Minister Heydon has confirmed that he wrote back to the regulator asking for more details on the powers that the authority believes it is lacking.

Speaking at the annual general meeting (AGM) of the Agricultural Consultants Association (ACA) this week, the minister said: "I wrote back to the regulator just to clarify which elements…there are certain powers available to me to be able to pass legislation in the form of a statutory instrument to give more powers.

"It's a big decision to make. I am absolutely determined to support the work of the regulator, and I just wanted [the board] to reflect on which elements of the powers they’re missing at the minute," he added.

The CEO of a the regulator recently said that efforts to produce an envisaged report on price and market trends in the horticulture sector had not been possible. This was because a number of businesses did not provide the requested data, hindering the regulator's work.

Minister Heydon said: "There are a range of options there, and it is a big deal to do it, but obviously I want the regulator to work well, and I just want them to reflect on the different options that are there, and to clearly define where exactly the impediments are that they've encountered under previous investigations."