Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

They could then legitimately under Irish law get together to fix prices for their services. I am sure the Deputy does not intend that the protections afforded to consumers by the Oireachtas in the Competition Act could be circumvented in this manner.

It is important that the Bill is considered in the wider EU context and not purely from an Irish competition policy context. In this regard, a particular concern relates to the interaction of the Bill with established European jurisprudence in the area of competition law which has defined the concept of an undertaking as any entity engaged in an economic activity——

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