Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 9, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:“(a) subsections (11B) and (11C) (inserted by section 2(h) of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2012) of section 8;”.

This amendment repeals subsections (11B) and (11C) of section 8 that were inserted into the Competition Act 2002 by section 2(h) of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2012. This provision had foreseen that where a person or undertaking was found guilty of a competition law offence, the court was obliged to order that person to pay all costs to the Competition Authority, including costs and expenses related to the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence. No discretion was allowed. Since its introduction, there has been growing disquiet about the possible implications, including whether this could force courts to act in the opposite direction if a person was not found guilty and leave the State liable to a very large costs bill. It also could act as a strong disincentive to defendants to consider entering a guilty plea. Repeal will see full discretion returned to the courts.

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