Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

A breach of Article 101 of the EU treaty which relates to price-fixing may or may not be an offence under Irish law. Perhaps the Minister could reflect on that. It may not be an offence if it is dealt with exclusively at European level. That is only one that I can think of. I realise the 2002 Act criminalises anti-competitive activity but if someone is fined at European level, he or she is certainly not guilty of an offence in Ireland for that. I contend there is a category of civil wrongs not covered by the legislation and I call on the Minister and his officials to reflect on that.

The issue Senator Zappone raised is important and relates to undue influence being exercised by a public official. We saw that in the Mahon tribunal in respect of one particular public official. I have no wish to refer to individuals but there were many offences recorded in that tribunal. An act may not reach the level of criminality in question. I accept what the Minister is saying, in that if he sets out so many of them then his would be excluding more, and he is right in saying that. However, he argues against his point by virtue of the fact that he has eight categories already in the legislation. I am suggesting that perhaps one more could possibly cover the issues that myself and Senator Zappone have raised.