Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 39:

In page 28, to delete lines 27 and 28 and substitute the following: “member of the competent authority, a member of staff of the competent authority, an authorised officer or an adjudication officer the performance”.

Amendments Nos. 39 to 41, inclusive, relate to the independence of adjudication officers with regard to sections 15P and 15Q. Section 15P, to be included in the Competition Act 2002, sets out the provisions around ensuring the independence of the adjudication officers, including that where a member of a competent authority is appointed to act as an adjudication officer, he or she may not undertake certain other duties while acting as an adjudication officer. For the sake of clarity and completeness, amendments Nos. 39 and 40 intend that this includes not undertaking such other duties that are required of an authorised officer.

Amendment No. 41, which is related to this, clarifies under section 15Q that an adjudication officer may not act as an authorised officer with regard to the relevant competition law. The original wording had, however, unintentionally precluded such an officer from acting as an authorised officer in relation to matters other than competition law. As section 35 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 covers authorised officers in relation to both competition matters and consumer protection matters, this amendment clarifies that this only relates to competition law matters.