Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill because it will enable the CCPC to operate more effectively. Indeed, it should provide the long-awaited powers necessary to tackle a wide range of white-collar crimes. As somebody who sat on the finance committee and who was involved in the scrutiny of insurance prices, what was happening in that market, the protection of raw data and how things were used against the consumer, who was fleeced with insurance costs, I really welcome this. The Bill is a good beginning and will go at least some way towards tackling those issues. Every one of us who buys insurance will welcome this.

The aggregate economic and social cost of the anticompetitive practices in this State has cost us very dearly. The victims of breaches of competition law such as the operation of cartels, bid rigging and the abuse of market practices have all paid the price. As a State, we have also paid the price economically. Back in 2007, it was estimated by RSM Robson Rhodes that it was costing the State €2.5 billion. It could be much more than that now. That is €2.5 billion that could be spent on different things in the State while we squabble over pennies.

What really annoys me is who we go after in this State. We go after the dead pensioner who has forgotten to tick a box and who has somehow been overpaid a small pension or something like that. We follow them beyond the grave and yet we ignore so much white-collar crime. Discussing this Bill brings that to the fore. Our national competition authority must have appropriate powers of enforcement and adequate resources to tackle these economic crimes. For far too long, we have been an outlier in the EU in comparison with other member states. Reaching a criminal verdict in a court of law can take too long. It also puts justice out of reach for too many victims of white-collar crime. This Bill will go some way towards addressing that. We also see issues with prices in the agriculture sector. Really legitimate concerns and queries have been raised for a long time with regard to price fixing in the agricultural sector. I hope this Bill will serve to address some of that. The only pity is that it was not brought in years ago and is only now coming to the floor of the House. However, I welcome the Bill and I look forward to it becoming law as quickly as possible.

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