The issue of increasing anti-competitive issues, specifically, based on a Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) statement that manufacturers cannot block access to diagnostic tools or pressure consumers into using authorised dealers by threatening to void warranties, is of concern to agricultural and forestry contractors in Ireland.
“The increasing difficulty in accessing diagnostic tools or servicing equipment outside of franchised dealerships, across farm machinery brands, has the potential to be a significant issue for agricultural and forestry contractors, not just in Ireland but across Europe,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan, managing director at Association of Farm and Forestry Contractors in Ireland (FCI).
“FCI supports any move that protects the right of agricultural machinery owners, particularly professional agricultural and forestry contractors, to choose how and where they purchase, maintain and repair their equipment. It is our view that competition in this space will lead to better service, lower costs, and improved uptime across the agricultural and forestry contractor sector,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan.
“Equally if not a more important issue for agricultural and forestry contractors is that there is a shortage of trained and qualified technical personnel within Irish farm machinery dealership networks,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan. “The new technology challenges that allow agricultural and forestry contractors to optimise the performance from their continuous and significant investments in modern machines, have resulted in specific IT-based skill demands, which are often scarce on the ground. This can mean that even when agricultural and forestry contractors are willing to use authorised franchised dealer services, they often face long waiting times for basic repairs or diagnostics, due to staff shortages” she added.
There are over 1,500 agricultural contractor businesses in Ireland who contribute more than €1 billion in agricultural machinery services to the agricultural economy annually, based on the latest data from the Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) 2024 report. FCI estimates that Irish agricultural and forestry contractors spend in excess of €300 million annually on machinery investments for their contracting businesses.
“It is our understanding that in the context of Irish law, if a business, such as an agricultural or forestry contractor or a farmer, purchases goods or services for its own business purposes, this is considered a business-to-business (B2B) transaction, and consumer protection laws generally do not apply. It is for this reason that we urge all FCI members to ensure that they complete and sign an order/invoice form with their machinery dealerships when purchasing any machine as this provides the only legal opportunity for both the buyer and the seller to lay down clear trading terms and responsibilities in the event of a machine failure or service requirement within an agreed specified time,” said Ann Gleeson Hanrahan.
