Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The purpose of the CCPC is to have the consumers at the centre of its work, to act on their behalf and to protect them from anticompetitive measures that will ultimately have a negative effect on them. This is the case for individual consumers as well as businesses and by extension, the economy as a whole. For this protection to be effective, the CCPC needs to have powers that will deter those intent on engaging in anticompetitive practices from trying to do so, while also ensuring that it has the resources and powers of enforcement needed to sanction effectively those who do.

Right now we are one of a few EU member states that allow a company to be fined only if a court has found that there has been a breach proven to a criminal standard, which is staggering. This seeks to rectify that by allowing the CCPC for the first time to fine companies for breaches of competition law. It will enable the commission to issue maximum fines of up to €10 million or 10% of total worldwide turnover for breaches of competition law, while encouraging whistle-blowing on secret cartels by offering reductions in fines to companies that provide evidence against other cartel members.

As matters stand, everyone is being failed through anticompetitive practices that are carrying on in the knowledge that our bark is worse than our bite. While this Bill may seem to be broad yet targeted, it is no thanks to this Government or any previous ones that we are discussing it here today. It is because the State has been compelled by a European directive to implement legislative changes to ensure the CCPC has the tools and resources it needs to enforce EU competition law like many other member states.

The people of this country will know very well the consequences of a light-touch approach when it comes to white-collar crime. Generations to come will be paying for the manner in which a light touch to corporate crime has in the past brought this country to its knees. We continue to see instances and allegations of malpractice in high finance, insurance, public procurement and building development. The list goes on.

International estimates from the OECD suggest the rate of overcharge in public procurement is between 20% and 30%. We have heard of how a study in 2007 found that Ireland was losing somewhere in the region of €2.5 billion a year from economic crime. If that figure is applied for each year since, the loss to this State would be eye-watering. The Government sees white collar-crime as something apart from crimes that are committed further down the food chain. That is why there has been no appetite to legislate, regulate and tackle corporate and economic crime, and why the Government was forced to implement legislative changes to ensure the CCPC has the appropriate tools and resources to enforce EU competition law.

While I welcome this legislation as a good starting point, we must have a firm commitment that resources and funding will be provided to uphold a CCPC with powers that will make a difference.

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