Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I understand that both the Health Services Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health separately received legal advice on the interpretation and application of the Competition Act 2002. Section 4 of that Act prohibits anti-competitive practices, such as price fixing, by "undertakings". An "undertaking" is defined in the Act as "a person being an individual, a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons engaged for gain in the production, supply, or distribution of goods or the provision of a service". This definition has been in use in Irish competition law for some time and is supported by EU case law. Section 4 mirrors Article 81 of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Under the 2002 Act, the Competition Authority is the independent statutory body responsible for enforcing competition law. The Authority has previously found that self-employed persons are "undertakings" for the purposes of the 2002 Act, and as such collectively bargained agreements concluded by representative bodies on behalf of such persons are prohibited agreements under section 4. The Competition Act does not prohibit negotiations between an employer and a representative organisation when such a body is representing employees.