Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, on introducing this important legislation. Not only does it transpose into Irish law the European Competition Network, ECN, directive from 2019, but it does something novel, in that it extends the remit and powers available under the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 and applies them to the CCPC, which has not been the case to date. Up until now, the Garda, the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners have been able to use the extensive powers available under that Act. Under this Bill, however, they are being given to the CCPC as well. I note that the Minister of State is not doing this because it was a directive given to the Government by the EU, but because it was contained within a recommendation in the report prepared by the former DPP, Mr. James Hamilton, and delivered in February 2020.

The Bill follows on and implements another recommendation from that report, namely, that a new separate offence of bid rigging be introduced. This will be transformative in terms of the CCPC's ability to investigate what are regarded as anticompetitive practices. I welcome that, instead of having to go to court, the CCPC will find itself in a position similar to the Central Bank whereby it can impose what are referred to as administrative fines on people who have been found to be in breach of competition law.

While I am on the topic of the Central Bank, an area of competition that we in political life need to examine actively is the lack of competition within the Irish banking sector. As the Minister of State will be aware, very few banks from outside the jurisdiction operate within Ireland and many of the banks operating in Ireland are controlled or have significant ownership by the State. We need to consider how to expand and introduce greater competition into the banking sector. The Minister of State might look into whether we should give some responsibility or jurisdiction to the Central Bank so that one of its remits would have to do with the existence of competition within the banking sector.

Competition is a complex issue and, from listening to this debate, I am conscious that it can have different consequences on different parts of the economy. The purpose of competition law is to try to ensure that we have a vibrant economy within which consumers have significant choice because there are so many competitors in various sectors that prices will decrease and standards will increase. To find an example of where there is great competition, one need look no further than the grocery sector. We see large volumes of advertising in our newspapers and everywhere else about the price of food in various competitive supermarkets throughout the country. That has a consequence, though. The lowering of prices in the grocery sector has a negative impact on the prices being received by farmers for their food. As such, competition law is not a simple issue' it is complex. We always look to place the consumer at the centre of it, but we also need to recognise that, by continuously promoting the benefits for the consumer, there are certain other individuals who will lose out.

I am pleased that the target of this Bill will be businesses that are openly breaching competition law. That is something that this new legislation will achieve. I hope that the surveillance powers will be a great deterrence to those businesses that are involved in bid rigging.

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