I move amendment No. 17:
In page 5, before section 10, to insert the following new section:
10.—(1) The Act of 1978 is hereby amended by the deletion in section 1 (1) of the definition of ‘monopoly'.
(2) The Principal Act is hereby amended—
(a) by the insertion in sections 20 and 21 after ‘this Act', in each place where those words occur, of ‘the Competition (Amendment) Act, 1996, or the Act of 1978', and
(b) in section 21, by the addition of the following subsection after subsection (3):
‘(4) In this section "records" includes, in addition to records in writing—
(a) discs, tapes, sound-tracks or other devices in which information, sounds or signals are embodies so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in legible or audible form,
(b) films, tapes or other devices in which visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other instrument) of being reproduced in visual form, and
(c) photography,
and a reference to a copy of records includes, in the case of records falling within paragraph (a) only, a transcript of the sounds or signals embodied therein, in the case of records falling with paragraph (b), a still reproduction of the images embodied therein and, in the case of records falling within both of those paragraphs, such a transcript and such a still reproduction.'.".
This amendment deals with two issues. It deals with an anomaly in existing legislation by deleting the definition of monopoly in the Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Control) Act, 1978, which has been superseded by the definition of dominant position in section 5 of the 1991 Act. It restores powers to the Competition Authority in terms of the use of authorised officers in the context of the 1978 and 1991 Acts and in the context of the present Bill. There was an anomaly in that the powers of authorised officers were not included in the Authority's powers under the 1978 Act, although they were included in respect of the Competition Act, 1991. The amendment provides that the powers of authorised officers apply in respect of this Bill which introduces criminal offences. It deals also with the issue of records and provides that records may include discs, tapes, films and photographs as outlined in the text.