Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 94: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will report on the work of the Competition Authority in the first five months of 2006; the priorities of the Competition Authority for the second half of 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23494/06]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Competition Authority is an independent statutory agency responsible for the enforcement of competition law across all sectors of the Irish economy. Its mandate and functions are contained in the Competition Act, 2002, as amended.

Section 42 of the Competition Act, 2002 provides that the Authority shall publish an annual report of its activities within two months of the end of each financial year. The Authority's Annual Report for 2005 was published and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in February 2006.

In relation to the Authority's priorities, in December 2005, I received the Authority's Strategy Statement for 2006 to 2008 as required under Section 33 of the Competition Act, 2002, which was subsequently laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Authority published the Strategy Statement 2006-2008 in March 2006. The Strategy Statement sets out the Authority's objectives for the next three years and its plans on how it proposes to implement those objectives. The Authority states that the focus of its strategy over the next three years is no longer on building capacity but rather about discharging its functions in the most timely, efficient and effective way possible.

In addition to these various reporting requirements, the Authority Chairperson is obliged to attend, if required, before the Committee on Public Accounts in relation to the Comptroller and Auditor General's annual report on the Competition Authority's audited accounts. The Authority's Chairperson is also obliged, under Section 38 of the Competition Act, 2002, to attend before any other committee of the Oireachtas, if required.

The Competition Authority, through the Director of Public Prosecutions, has secured fifteen criminal convictions for breaches of competition law so far this year. There are a further five defendants before the courts in relation to this particular case which involved a price fixing cartel in the home heating oil sector in the West of Ireland. To date, fines amounting to €98,000 and one six month prison sentence have been imposed. These are the first criminal convictions on indictment for competition law offences in Ireland and in Europe. The additional resources provided to the Authority this year for its cartel enforcement work will increase the Authority's capacity to investigate and prosecute serious breaches of competition law.