This is a Seanad Bill which has been amended by the Dáil. In accordance with Standing Order 103, it is deemed to have passed its First, Second and Third Stages in the Seanad and is placed on the Order Paper for Report Stage. On the question, "That the Bill be received for final consideration", the Minister may explain the purpose of the amendments made by the Dáil. This is looked upon as the report of the Dáil amendments to the Seanad. The only matters, therefore, which may be discussed are the amendments made by the Dáil. For Senators' convenience, I have arranged for the circulation of the amendments. Members may speak only once on Report Stage.
Competition Bill, 2001 [ Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil ] : Report and Final Stages.
Question proposed: "That the Bill be received for final consideration."
I thank the Seanad for facilitating this matter today. I also thank Members for arranging a temporary adjournment. I was meeting a deputation which included some Members of this House.
The Bill, as passed yesterday by the Dáil, contains 102 amendments to the text passed by Seanad Éireann on 20 February. While some of the amendments are technical in nature, most of the changes relate to important substantive issues, many of which were raised in this House. I particularly wish to draw attention to amendments Nos. 11 and 14 which reduce considerably the scope of the presumption in section 6(2). As a result, the range of practices covered has been restricted to the most serious offences, the presumption now relates solely to the object and not the effect of such agreements, the presumption will only apply to agreements between competi tors and not to vertical agreements between undertakings at different levels of the economic chain and it will only apply where the purpose of the agreement is to fix prices, share markets or limit production.
Amendments Nos. 29 and 34 will have the effect of confining to senior officers of a firm the presumption of consent to anti-competitive offences which are carried out by a firm. Part 3 of the Bill, which relates to mergers and acquisitions, now contains significant additional provisions relating to mergers by acquisition of assets, public bids and tacit approval of mergers. We have also met, in amendment No. 38, the concern expressed in relation to mergers involving undertakings which do not carry on business in the State. It will now be a requirement that "each of two or more of the undertakings involved in the merger or acquisition carries on business in any party of the island of Ireland".
On media mergers, we have extended the scope of those provisions to cover new technological developments in the media. The Minister's power to review and overturn media merger decisions of the authority is reduced to "positive" decisions only of the authority. The effect of that change is that media mergers will have to jump two fences – a competition test administered by the authority and a public interest test administered by the Minister. The provisions in Part 4, which relate to the Competition Authority, include significant improvements which arise particularly from the deliberations in this House. Section 35 opens up to public competition all future appointments to the authority. Section 38(4) requires the chairperson of the authority to attend, whenever required, before any committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas dealing with competition policy matters. We also empower the authority to publish an annual report and require it to do so within two months of the commencement of the financial year. That is provided in section 42.
Concerns in relation to the powers of investigation of the authority have been addressed in section 45 by amendments Nos. 88 and 90. In particular, the authority will be obliged to return to the undertaking within 14 days copies of any business records it seizes in the course of a raid. This is intended to alleviate the difficulties encountered by a business under investigation. In addition to those changes, I am also pleased that we have been able to include in section 50 a provision to protect whistleblowers, and to resolve some practical difficulties for the co-operative movement in section 51.
I thank the Tánaiste for her comments. We are always happy to oblige her so there was no difficulty organising the short adjournment.
I thank the Tánaiste for taking into account the deliberations of this House and the spirit of the amendments moved here. She had indicated she would do that. I welcome, in particular, the pro visions regarding foreign takeovers, media mergers and the new technological changes, the independence of the authority, the fact that there will be open competition for the membership thereof, that the annual reports will be published within two months and that the chairman of the authority will appear before the appropriate Oireachtas committee. I also welcome the provisions regarding Supreme Court appeals which were suggested by my colleague, Senator Norris.
I thank the Department's officials for the briefings they gave us as the legislation progressed. This Bill is extremely important and we wish it well.
I echo the comments of my colleague. He had the onerous duty of carrying the burden of debate on this Bill on behalf of the Opposition. I pay tribute to the Minister for her persistence with this legislation which was, essentially, her brainchild from the beginning. She took a strong public position on the importance of legislation such as this and on its enactment as a priority. It has taken some time to happen and I am sure she is personally and professionally pleased that it has been dealt with.
I welcome the changes regarding media mergers. It is important that a strong message is sent that there is a double lock in this regard. Those who involve themselves in media acquisitions in this country will know there is a powerful corpus of legislation to prevent monopolisation of the media, which is a most important issue. The protection for whistleblowers is also important. It might not have received prominence in the general discussion on the Bill but the fact that this protection has been considerably strengthened is welcome.
I do not wish to delay the House or, indeed, the Minister any further, but on a personal basis I again thank her for her normal courtesy and her acknowledgement of the role that this House played in the passage of this Bill, and wish the Bill well on its way.
I will not delay the House. I want to acknowledge what the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has done for the co-operative movement in resolving the problems it has had for many years and, on my own behalf and on behalf of the co-operative movement which has asked me to do so, express appreciation for what she has done. It has been a long time coming.
I thank the House for its response. I appreciate the concern Members have had for a considerable time regarding competition law. It is hard to believe it is all so new in Ireland but we have learnt a great deal since the first legislation in this area was introduced in the early 1990s. This is the third Bill in just over a decade which I suppose is a sign of the commitment in the pol itical system to competition and competition policy.
We have amended this Bill, accepting nine or ten amendments in the Seanad and 102 subsequently. That is a considerable change, not so much to the broad principles but by taking on board the points which were made both here and in the other House, and the Bill is the stronger for it.
The Bill will make a huge difference in ensuring we remain competitive and that there is a competitive regime which is fair and a law that is enforced independently by the authority. That authority now has the resources, expertise and determination to make sure that happens. Considerable new powers will go to the authority in relation to mergers and the mergers regime, with the exception of the media, has been depoliticised which is a good development.
I thank the Clerk of the Seanad and all her staff for their co-operation in facilitating this debate and of course I thank all the Members. I especially want to thank the small group of officials, including Mr. Brian Whitney and Mr. Eamon Carey who have been involved with this legislation. They have worked extraordinarily hard in a short timeframe to bring us to this stage. It is a matter for them to ensure the legislation which the Oireachtas has passed and which hopefully will be signed quickly by the President is put into effect as quickly as possible. They know that my horizon in that regard involves a fairly short timeframe. It is important that the necessary orders, in particular the commencement order to ensure this is brought into effect quickly, are put in place as quickly as possible.
I thank everybody concerned and, as is often customary as a way of showing one's appreciation, I invite them to join me after we leave this Chamber. I pay tribute to Mr. Whitaker who has been at every single debate we have had on this matter. I hope the audience for his magazine grows substantially as a result of his hard work. Certainly I very much appreciate the support we have had for the passing of this important legislation in the dying days of this Dáil and Seanad.
Question put and agreed to.
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
As this is the final piece of legislation the Tánaiste will be taking through this House, I wish her well in the forthcoming election. Go mbeirimid beo ag an am seo arís.
I endorse those sentiments and wish the Tánaiste well. We all hope that, in whatever capacity, we will continue to work well in the future. That is assuming I can get back in here as well. I wish her the best of luck and thank her officials, Mr. Whitney and Mr. Carey.
I hope it is not the last legislation I will be taking through this House.
I should have qualified that by saying "in the current term".
Clearly he meant before Easter.
Yes.
I thank the Senators.
Question put and agreed to.