Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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496. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of cases involving price collusion that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, as well as its predecessor the Competition Authority, have prosecuted since its establishment; the number of these cases that resulted in a successful prosecution for price collusion; and the sectors and industries in which the alleged price collusion took place. [33426/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory body responsible for the enforcement of domestic and EU competition and consumer law in the State. Section 9 (5) of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 provides that the CCPC is independent in the performance of its functions, including carrying out investigations of alleged anti-competitive practices. As investigations and enforcement matters generally are part of the day-to-day operational work of the CCPC, I, as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation have no direct function in the matter.It is important to note that while the CCPC has responsibility to investigate alleged cartels, it is the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who decides whether to prosecute, and any resulting sanctions are imposed by the courts. Due to the inherently secret nature of cartels and the evidential threshold of “beyond reasonable doubt” for criminal cases, cartel investigations, like any other form of white-collar crime, are resource intensive and usually of long duration.

I have been advised by the CCPC that up until July 2016, the DPP secured 33 convictions for cartel offences on indictment; 17 of those convictions were against individuals and 16 were against undertakings.

These resulted in fines of €629,000 being imposed (with €316,000 of this being imposed on individuals). Nine persons have been given custodial sentences totalling 11 years. Custodial sentences have ranged from three months to two years. In all cases the custodial sentences were suspended. One person was jailed for non-payment of the imposed fine.

In addition to the above, the DPP took two criminal prosecutions which resulted in acquittals, and one file was referred to the DPP who decided that there was insufficient evidence to launch a prosecution.

In summary the DPP prosecuted 50 alleged cartelists and secured 33 convictions on indictment.

The sectors and industries in which the alleged price collusion took place were:

-home heating oil

-cars

-domestic waste collection

-railway vegetation clearance

If the Deputy is aware of any alleged cartel activity that is taking place (be it price-fixing, market-sharing or bid-rigging), or knows of potential whistle blowers or immunity applicants I would urge him to forward specific details to the CCPC for their attention and possible further investigation.