Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

I want to take the opportunity to correct a number of misconceptions contained in the explanatory memorandum which accompanies this Bill. According to the explanatory memorandum, if the Competition Act applied with full force to trade unions and their members, trade unions would revert to their old common law status as unlawful "combinations" and trade union leaders would be prosecuted as parties to a criminal conspiracy. I reiterate that the 2002 Act applies only to undertakings and associations of undertakings. For the greater part, trade union members are employees, not undertakings, and in the view of the Competition Authority, trade unions representing employees would never, when acting in that capacity, be considered as associations of undertakings.

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