Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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389. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the financial resources and supports available to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission; the number of staff it will have; the powers it will have to investigate anti-competitive practices; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42189/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was established on 31 October 2014 through the amalgamation of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency as provided for in the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014.

The combined budget of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority for 2014 is €12.287m. The combined Employment Control Framework figure for both organisations is 106.

A suite of additional enforcement powers was already provided to the Competition Authority in 2012 under the Competition (Amendment) Act 2012 and additional staff were also allocated to it to strengthen competition law enforcement in the context of the EU/IMF Financial Programme for Ireland. The Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 maintains the original powers ascribed to both legacy organisations and also gives additional powers to the new Commission by extending the provisions of the Criminal Justice Act 2011 and the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011 to serious competition law offences. In addition, some elements of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 related to the use of the taped-evidence at witness-interviews have been incorporated into the powers of the new Commission.