Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, lines 7 to 17, to delete all words from and including "may," in line 7 down to and including "specified."," in line 17 and substitute the following:

"may—

(a) order one or all of the following—

(i) that the undertaking shall discontinue the abuse, or

(ii) that the undertaking shall adopt such measures for the purpose of securing an adjustment of that dominant position,

as may be specified in the order (including measures consisting of the sale of assets of the undertaking) within such period as may be so specified, or

(b) in civil proceedings, impose a liability on that undertaking for a fine not exceeding a class A fine.",".

Deputy O'Dea has had a family bereavement and I am representing him. This amendment was also dealt with on Committee Stage. We in Fianna Fáil were not happy with the response offered by the Minister at the time and we are moving it again.

The difficulty in dividing competition law offences into hardcore and non-hardcore offences is that those who are abusing competition law are so well resourced that they know their way around it. The profits and gains made by abusing non-hardcore offences in particular are not treated with any serious fines in this legislation. That is not a political opinion or the opinion of Fianna Fáil. That is the view of the Competition Authority. If we are serious about this Bill, one would assume that the views of the Competition Authority - those we entrust with enforcing this legislation - would be taken on board. The head of the authority has produced a lot of information on this. As recently as last September, the Competition Authority published a detailed document on the issue. Noreen Mackey has published quite a lot of work on this.

The use of the res judicata defence does not add up when we go through the Constitution and the practicalities of the way competition law is being abused. From my time on the enterprise committee and from my time in the Minister of State's Department, I know the difficulties in dealing with competition. Competition is supposed to level a playing field, but the way in which business practice has evolved in many sectors has ensured that competition has made that playing field a lot more uneven than was ever envisaged. The purpose of this amendment is to level that playing field again and put a serious impediment in the way of those who abuse competition law and engage in anti-competitive practices, regardless of whether these are defined as hardcore or non-hardcore offences.

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