Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

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 Agency have the right to comment on legislation coming before the Government which they do frequently. They have been given that privileged position which is not available to any other body, as legislation generally only circulates to other Departments. These bodies have the role of protecting consumers from anti-competition activity.

They are not always acted upon. When one is forming public policy, competition or the consumer is not the sole issue. We have had debates on proper planning, for example. The Competition Authority would have a clear view about proper planning for supermarkets and the freedom of establishment, whereas some public policymakers would take a different view on the need to protect our town centres and look at other wider issues. While competition issues are rightly flagged, a Minister will be looking at the position in the round. I am not saying that on every occasion the authority’s advice was ignored that it was incorrect. There is a broader range.

Regulatory capture has been a problem. That is why last year the Government sought to underline to regulators their duty to consumers and ensure their sectors are competitive against international benchmarks.

The commission will work actively on co-operative agreements with bodies such as Irish Water to ensure the way they develop policy is even-handed. The two bodies are already involved with the work of the Commission for Energy Regulation which is overseeing Irish Water, as well as the entity itself. They did intervene in the practices of some of the refuse collection companies which were using oppressive terms in their contracts and ensured they modified them.

I understand the Senator’s concerns. He has been a champion of the free market in these areas but I know he might take a slightly different view in the education sector. There are always wider public policy issues that have to be examined when these factors are being accounted for.