Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

The Competition Act is an advocate of competition and acts as a prosecutor; it is not an arbiter of the law. The final interpretation of law is a matter for the courts. The Bill assumes that the Competition Authority ruling in the Equity case is the law, which is not necessarily so. This also applies to the Attorney General's advice given to the Government with regard to HSE negotiations with the IPU, IMO and IDA. This year, the Supreme Court ruled against the Competition Authority and representative services on behalf of its members in a case taken by the Irish League of Credit Unions.

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