Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 October 2018
197. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the extent of measurement by his Department or State bodies under his Department's remit of market concentration in various consumer markets here; and the current level of market concentration as measured by an index or some other measure in each of the cases (details supplied) that come under his Department's remit. [42756/18]
View answerData relating to market concentration in the electricity and gas markets is collected, monitored and published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU). The latest data is available in the CRU’s 2017 Electricity and Gas Retail Markets Annual Report published on 6 July 2018. The report is available to download on the Commission’s website www.cru.ie.
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) monitors market developments in terms of the telecommunications services. ComReg is statutorily independent in the exercise of its functions. I will ask ComReg to respond to the Deputy directly on the matter.
In relation to Waste issues, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is not under the remit of my Department. However, in September 2017, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, on foot of a request from the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, requested that the CCPC carry out a study of the operation of the household waste collection market in Ireland. The recently published report of the CCPC examines market concentration ratios using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) over the period 2012 to 2016. The report is available to download on the Commission’s website.
Finally, the issue of health insurance does not come under the remit of my Department.
