Denis Naughten (Longford-Roscommon, Fine Gael)
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Question 272: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his plans to introduce legislation to control abuses of dominance within the supermarket sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22439/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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As I have already said many times in this House, the abuse of dominance is already specifically prohibited by Section 5 of the Competition Act 2002 and by Article 82 of the EU Treaty.

However, in the light of concerns expressed by some contributors to the public consultation process on the Groceries Order last year that certain anti-competitive practices might develop in the trade if the Groceries Order were abolished, I have asked the Competition Authority to monitor the sector following the repeal of the Order in March.

The Authority is putting in place a monitoring mechanism to track data and trends over the coming months and years and it will keep my Department informed of developments.