Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

It is neither appropriate nor necessary to provide for the dissolution of the ECAP in primary legislation. ECAP was established under the framework regulations of 2003. Any changes to the appeals structure could be facilitated by secondary legislation. The Bill is concerned with competition and anti-competitive practices. ECAP is mainly concerned with decisions about significant market power. We will review ECAP and the criticism of it — it has been unfairly criticised. The panel sought to deal with appeals. Some appeals were not successful and some decisions were challenged legally, but the panel developed expertise in procedures. It is natural that the first appeals were slower than we would have liked.

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