Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 42:

In page 43, to delete lines 28 to 31 and substitute the following: “(ii) in the case of an undertaking that is not an individual, to a fine not exceeding the greater of €50,000,000, or 20 per cent of the turnover of the undertaking in the financial year ending in the 12 months prior to the conviction, or

(iii) in the case of an individual, to a fine not exceeding whichever of the following amounts is the greater, namely, €50,000,000, or 20 per cent of the turnover of the individual in the financial year ending in the 12 months prior to the conviction or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both such fine (that is to say a fine not exceeding the greater of the foregoing monetary amounts) and such imprisonment.”.

We discussed this aspect in the committee earlier and, in fairness, the Minister accepted the recommendation to increase the level of fines. When we are dealing with the unfair trading practices, UTP, directive, two approaches could have been taken. One is that it could have operated, essentially, under the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC. I think this was the Minister's previous suggestion in terms of an ombudsman's office. The second approach was that it could be a stand-alone body. I think the Minister has taken the right approach by putting in place a stand-alone body.

At the same time, however, there is now a distinction. The CCPC's powers to levy fines and penalties are much greater than that of the new body. The legislation that gave the CCPC those powers derived from what is called the ECN+ directive. That legislative provision takes the approach of outlining the penalty in separate clauses in relation to an individual or otherwise, while this legislation would seem, on my reading, to be limited to individuals. What we are trying to achieve, therefore, is co-ordination across the two bodies in terms of the powers of enforcement and penalties.