The Competition Authority has responsibility for enforcing Irish Competition Law. We are also responsible for enforcing European Union Competition Law (see European Competition Law).

Irish competition law is embodied in the Competition Act 2002, the Competition (Amendment) Act 2006 and the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011.  The Competition Act 2002 replaced the Competition Act 1991 and the Competition (Amendment) Act 1996.

The Competition Act 2002

The Competition Act 2002 contains two main prohibitions:

1. Section 4(1) prohibits and renders void "all agreements between undertakings, decisions by associations of undertakings and concerted practices which have as their object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in trade in any goods or services in the State or in any part of the State".  The Act lists some specific types of behaviour which are expressly prohibited. These include agreements which:

• fix prices
• limit or control production or markets
• share markets or sources of supply
• apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with other trading parties or 
• attach supplementary obligations to a commercial contract which have nothing to do with the subject of the contract (e.g. tying).

2. Section 5 prohibits the abuse of a dominant position. It is important to recognise that it does not prohibit a dominant position - only its abuse. Generally a firm is considered to be dominant if it is able to act without taking account of the reaction of its customers or its rivals, e.g. a firm which can increase its prices unilaterally because it knows that its customers have few if any satisfactory alternative sources of supply and therefore little choice but to pay the higher price. The Act is not breached when a firm's vigorous competition takes sales away from less efficient rivals, since this is competition working properly.

Section 6 and 7, respectively, make these prohibitions an offence. Penalties for breaching either of the section 4 and 5 provisions are set out in section 8.

Part 3 of the Competition Act 2002 relates to the review of Mergers & Acquisitions. For information on Part 3, please refer to the Mergers & Acquisitions section of our website.

The Competition (Amendment) Act 2006

The Competition (Amendment) Act 2006, which inserted a new Part 2A into the Competition Act 2002, was enacted to prevent certain unfair trading practices in the grocery trade.  Its provisions prohibit the following practices in the grocery trade:

• attempts to impose resale price maintenance
• discrimination by applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions in the sector
• compelling or coercing payment or allowances for advertising or display of goods and
• “hello money”  in  relation  to  new  or  extended  retail  outlets  or outlets under new ownership

This conduct is only prohibited where its object or effect is the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition. 

The Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011

In October 2011, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation published the Competition (Amendment) Bill 2011.  The Bill is intended to strengthen the enforcement of competition law and help battle white-collar crime in Ireland, ultimately helping to reduce costs across the economy and create jobs.  The main provisions of the Bill include: 

• an increase from 5 to 10 years of the maximum prison sentence for conviction of an offence relating to anti-competitive agreements, decisions and concerted practices
• large increases in fines for competition offences across the board
• a body convicted of competition offences may have to pay the costs of investigation and court proceedings for the first time
• it will be possible for the first time to disqualify a person convicted of non-indictable competition offences from being a company director
• a person convicted of certain competition offences will not be eligible for probation
• it will be easier for private individuals affected by anti-competitive practices to prove an action for damages against a cartelist, once public enforcement proceedings have successfully been taken

The Minister also signed an order to commence section 10 of the Competition Act 2002 which provides measures to assist juries in considering complex financial and economic evidence during trials for breaches of competition law.