Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I welcome the amendments proposed in the Bill which will further strengthen existing competition laws and make them more effective. I thank the Minister and his staff for their work in bringing the amendments before the House.

Competition is the engine that drives business and productivity and is good for consumers. Without it, the people would have poor choices and quality of produce and increased prices, all of which would be detrimental to the economy's recovery. The well-being of the economy is critical to the country's financial revival and the cornerstone of the work of the Government. Protecting consumer interests is a key part of this work and will benefit not only the people but also business, big and small, if anti-competitive practices such as cartels are further penalised and sanctioned.

For the economy to recover, people must have confidence that they are getting the best value for money in all sectors. They must know that if they are not getting fair treatment, the legislation is in place to allow them to pursue those who are taking advantage of them. If, for example, individuals or organisations are involved in hard core offences such as price fixing or anti-competitive practices or non-hard core offences such as the abuse of their dominant position in the market, people will have the protection of legislation to investigate and prosecute them. To this end, I welcome the increase in fines proposed in the Bill, including those for hard core offences, from €4 million to €5 million; the doubling of the sentence on conviction of an offence to ten years; the possibility that the costs of investigation and court proceedings could be paid by a body convicted of competition offences; disqualification from being a company director and being ineligible for probation. I particularly welcome the proposal which will make it easier for private individuals to prove an action for damages against a cartelist once public enforcement proceedings have been successfully taken.

The Competition Authority is due to merge with the National Consumer Agency in the near future and I look forward to the new body enforcing competition and consumer rights. The new agency's support for consumers is vital, as one individual can feel very small in the face of a powerful company. On this note, is legislation being considered to give the new agency powers which would enable it to take action on behalf of multiple consumers, similar to that granted to the Consumers Association which trades as Which? in England? This can occur after proceedings have been taken and an appeal has been concluded against a business, where it was ruled that an infringement of English or EU competition law had taken place such as price fixing between cartels. The Consumers Association can present the case on behalf of more than two consumers that those affected should be paid damages. It then collects and distributes the funds to consumers. An example of this occurred in 2007 when the association launched its first representative action on behalf of consumers who had been unlawfully overcharged for football shirts owing to price fixing. The absence of civil fines in this Bill disappoints me, as I understand the Competition Authority and others have identified them as the best sanction for those found to be guilty of non-hard core offences. While I acknowledge there are concerns in respect of its constitutionality, I urge the Department to reconsider such fines in the near future.

Crime in business must be exposed. Those businesses and their executives must be subject to severe civil and criminal sanction. In the past in Ireland, there has not been much evidence of white collar criminals being brought to justice. Every effort must be made by the Government to so do, with particular emphasis on the pursuit of those who contributed to the ruination of our economy and fiscal sovereignty. I look forward to the enforcement of these laws and to seeing white collar criminals behind bars in the near future.

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