Seanad debates

Thursday, 29 May 2003

Companies (Auditing and Accountancy) Bill 2003: Report and Final Stages.

 

Many groups made very strong representations on this issue. They wanted it to be absolutely clear that the law of the land is determined on these issues. It has been said for example that the question of competition law is not understood by many directors, that they do not realise it is a criminal offence in many cases to break those laws. If a board of directors is given a report each month to the effect that four filling station owners are meeting monthly to decide on the price of a litre of fuel, to make sure each is charging the same price for it, then that is conspiracy. It is a breach of the competition law and a criminal offence. It would be utterly wrong to pass legislation that would allow people to sign up to compliance while ignoring such a situation. The point is to link all these aspects in order to create fair competition rather than to put undue pressure on people trying to work and create wealth in a very competitive environment. That is the objective, and it is well met.

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