Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 16 December 2004
30 Ms Lynch asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his attention has been drawn to the recent call made by RGDATA that supermarket multiples should be required to publish their turnover and profit figures; if he has plans to introduce legislation to give effect to this suggestion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33749/04]
View answerCompanies in Ireland are free to establish and organise themselves in the most suitable form to promote and run their businesses, provided that they comply fully with relevant national and EU legislation. Multi-national companies including companies that have Irish subsidiaries are required to file annual returns with audited accounts with the Registrar of Companies. Many multi-national companies file their accounts in compliance with the European Communities (Companies: Group Accounts) Regulations 1992, which cover the financial affairs of the parent undertaking and the subsidiary undertaking as a whole. It is not clear to me that there is a real problem in this area and I therefore, have no proposals to introduce legislation on the lines suggested.
The Competition Act 2002 provides extensive fact-finding powers for the Competition Authority in pursuance of their responsibilities for competition enforcement.
