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

I move amendment No. 152:

In page 103, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following: "Non-applicability of limitation periods to certain actions

22. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 55:

"55A.(1) The matters referred to in subsection (2) may be brought, made or taken, as the case may be, by the competent authority at any time, notwithstanding—

(a) any provision (other than section 11A) of the and

(b) any provision of the

(2) Subsection (1) applies to the following matters:

(a) an action under section 14A;

(b) issuing a prohibition notice under section 15H; (c) a referral under section 15M.".

This is the insertion of a new section relating to the Statute of Limitations. The CCPC brought to the attention of the Department the fact that there is little guidance in how limitation periods apply in cases of civil enforcement proceedings. The Statute of Limitations Act 1957 contains a six-year limitation period for actions for breach of statutory duty. In the absence of any express limitation period under the Competition Act 2002, the general six-year limitation period for actions for breach of statutory duty could be applied by analogy to civil enforcement actions brought by the CCPC.

To date, the CCPC's practice has been to adopt a six-year time limit for initiating legal proceedings under section 14A of the 2002 Act in order to reduce the risk that any proceedings could be found by a judge to be time-barred. However, whether civil enforcement actions brought by the CCPC are subject to any statutory limitation period is an issue that has not yet been considered and adjudicated upon by the Irish courts. Legal proceedings taken by the CCPC could potentially be characterised as a public enforcement action, for which there is no statutory limitation period.

With respect to the new administrative regime, the CCPC considers that it would be very helpful for the primary legislation to clarify that there is no statutory limitation period for the CCPC to initiate administrative proceedings. Investigations into potential breaches of competition law are normally complex can take a long time. For example, the recent investigation into price signalling in the motor insurance sector was started in 2015 and only concluded in 2021.

It is not intended to allow the CCPC to delay in taking proceedings, where those are necessary, but it is also important the CCPC is afforded sufficient time to undertake its investigations and gather all the evidence necessary for proceedings, and that those proceedings do not then fail due to timing issues. I consider this to be a useful clarification for the CCPC to enable it to be more effective as it undertakes investigations and enforces competition law in the future in the public interest.