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

I move amendment No. 167:

In page 109, to delete line 38 and substitute the following:

“requirement.

(4) A person who—

(a) provides the Commission or delegate, as the case may be, with information that the person knows, or ought reasonably to know, is false or misleading in a material respect, or

(b) fails, without reasonable cause, to provide information pursuant to a requirement under subsection (1),

is guilty of an offence.

(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €250,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.”.”.

The purpose of the two amendments is to make it an offence under the new provisions for an undertaking, or association of undertakings, to provide information that it knows, or ought to know, to be misleading. There is a new section for the CCPC and ComReg regarding how requests for information shall be made, and the obligation for a person, an undertaking under investigation or a delegate to respond to that request for information. However, the existing provision in section 50 makes it an offence to submit false information and sanctions are available to the CCPC if such an offence occurs.

It was considered that creating an offence for the submission of false or misleading information to a competent authority was important because such information may be considered as part of an investigation or when making a decision which could erroneously lead to a significant administrative financial sanction or other sanctions being imposed on an undertaking. A competent authority needs to be capable of sanctioning any party which submits false or misleading information to prevent such consequences.

There are two separate amendments because the relevant provisions are contained in the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014, for the CCPC, and the Communications Regulation Act 2002, for ComReg, and not in the Competition Act 2002.