Results 20,361-20,380 of 32,583 for speaker:Richard Bruton

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I accepted that in the Dáil.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The background to this was a concern in regard to the powerful retailers in the grocery sector who were using terms and conditions in contract terms. Those contract terms were subject to abrupt change. Sometimes there was no contract at all and sometimes the obligations to fund special promotions were being placed on suppliers. We had a long consultation period between the different...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The same argument prevails here. This was not part of the area of concern signalled and was not part of the discussion that went into the development of the legislation. At this point, I am not willing to accept it.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: This amendment seeks to reduce the turnover threshold from €50 million to €10 million. The €50 million figure is the threshold to carry the new obligations in respect of recording contracts, having compliance officers and so on. First, it is intended to ensure these provisions are not disproportionate by including a broader swathe of processors, suppliers and retailers...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The issue of franchises has two sides to it - the individual operator who holds a franchise licence, the franchisee, and the overall, higher level operator, the franchisor, which operates and controls the franchise. While the majority of individual franchisees are small operations with a turnover of less than €5 million per annum, the parent franchisors are much bigger concerns with...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Senator should realise this has been a feature of competition law since 2002. The only issue here arose from an expert group on media mergers which looked at the way in which we handle mergers as they affect the media, therefore, competition law always has dealt with mergers. What we have here is a provision where there is a number of loops in dealing with a media merger. First, there...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The proposed amendment is a very wide catch all provision and could cover everything from greeting cards to petrol to electrical equipment. Even occasional items that are offered for sale by a grocery goods undertaking would be covered. For the purpose of this Bill, the term “grocery goods” means any food or drink that is intended to be sold for human consumption and can...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: This is a technical amendment to correct a cross-referencing error. The text should refer to section 37, which is on the powers of authorised officers in respect of investigations under the 2002 Act, rather than to section 34, which is on definitions in the chapter on authorised officers.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The background to the amendment is the definition of the term "diversity of content". Senator Cullinane's amendment proposes that in considering diversity of content it will be necessary to take account of all views present rather than prevalent. The definition of the term "diversity of content" is taken directly from the Sreenan report, which defines the term as meaning the extent to which...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: They are not workers; they are self-employed people.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: Of course all self-employed people are workers.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I will be brief. Competition law, which does stem from the EU, protects us from collusion, cartels and abuse of dominance. These are important protections for consumers and I do not think they should be-----

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: There will always be people saying that particular groups should be exempt from these laws. I am happy that these laws protect consumers in a fair way. If the House has to divide on this amendment, so be it.

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: I thank Senator Cullinane for tabling this amendment. It is an important debate and I think it is worth spending a little bit of time on it. There was a proposal to look afresh at the ruling of the Competition Authority but I understand that commitment was subject to consistency with EU competition rules. It is not consistent with EU competition rules to have such an arrangement. The case...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: There is nothing to prevent authorities from preparing and publishing their reports. The date in the legislation is just the outer limit. The Senator has claimed credit for adding the date of 30 June. As it has been included in all these Bills it can act like a little brass plate has been erected in his honour. The legislation provides six months as an outer limit and does not, in any way,...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Senator's amendment does not help the issue. We are discussing cases where the commission enters into arrangements with regulatory bodies to, inter alia, ensure as far as practicable, consistency between the decisions made or other steps taken by the Commission and the prescribed bodies in so far as any part of those decisions consist or relate to consumer protection and welfare and...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: No doubt the Senator is correct that there have been instances of regulatory capture or where people might take the view that a regulator has been unduly influenced by producers. The new CCPC must be alert to this. The two bodies have had no compunction about challenging practices that might be evolving in sectors which they do not believe in the interests of consumers. The Senator's...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: Section 18 involves investigations by the commission and it provides that a person found guilty of an offence under this section is liable to a fine or imprisonment. These are fairly draconian powers where the commission is actually investigating a serious breach of competition law. The Senator is raising a more general view. Essentially, the Competition Authority and the National Consumer...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Bill makes provision for appointments being made to the new competition and consumer protection commission following an open recruitment competition to be run by the Public Appointments Service. This replicates the system that currently exists for the Competition Authority. The mechanics of advertising, interviewing and then taking into account the need for successful applicants to give...

Seanad: Competition and Consumer Protection Bill 2014: Committee Stage (10 Jul 2014)

Richard Bruton: The Consumer Protection Act 2007 gives effect in Ireland to the EU directive on unfair commercial practices. Article 3(1) of that directive provides that "this directive shall apply to unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices." The Consumer Protection Act 2007 is, therefore, more concerned with what happens before, during and after a transaction rather than the status of the trader...