Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 April 2022

Select Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Competition (Amendment) Bill 2022: Committee Stage

Photo of Maurice QuinlivanMaurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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I thank members for their forbearance. Pursuant to Standing Order 187(3), I have to report specifically to Dáil Éireann that the committee has amended the Title to the Bill to read as follows:

A Bill entitled an Act to give effect to the implementation of Directive (EU) 2019/1 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 to empower the competition authorities of the Member States to be more effective enforcers and to ensure the proper functioning of the internal market; for that purpose to provide for a system of non-criminal enforcement of certain provisions of competition law, including the appointment and empowerment of independent adjudication officers, and the issuing of prohibition notices in response to certain suspected infringements of competition law; to provide for a system of enforcement and non-criminal penalties in relation to certain breaches of competition law, including by the imposition of non-criminal structural and behavioural remedies and certain non-criminal financial sanctions, and to provide for processes by which such non-criminal sanctions may be appealed, remitted or confirmed by the High Court; to provide for a leniency programme in relation to certain undertakings; to provide for cooperation between competition authorities in the European Union and certain bodies in the State; to increase the penalties for certain criminal offences for breach of competition law; to provide additional powers of surveillance to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission in relation to the investigation of certain criminal offences; to amend certain provisions relating to the procedure for notifying mergers to the relevant authorities; to make provision relating to the period of time within which certain proceedings relating to competition law may be brought; to make further provision regarding the power of the National Standards Authority of Ireland to charge fees in respect of certain matters; for those and other purposes to amend the Competition Act 2002, the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014, the Communications Regulation Act 2002, the Consumer Protection Act 2007, the National Standards Authority of Ireland Act 1996 and the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009; and to provide for related matters.