asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce regarding prosecutions taken under the Restrictive Practices Act for breach of orders made by him, the reasons any prosecutions that failed, did so.
Written Answers. - Restrictive Practices Act Enforcement.
174.
Eleven prosecutions have been taken under the Restrictive Practices Act for breaches of the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order, 1981, in relation to the advertising of grocery goods below cost. Convictions were obtained in eight of these cases. The remaining three cases were dismissed, one without prejudice.
The main reason two prosecutions failed was that the courts construed Article 12(1) of the Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order, 1981, as requiring that the advertisement indicate that the goods were being sold below the net invoice price. The Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order, 1987, overcomes this difficulty.
175.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will give details of the number of cases in which a party obtained an injunction to enforce an order made under the Restrictive Practices Act; and his views on whether this provision should be used more frequently.
The provision to which the Deputy refers (section 19 of Restrictive Practices Act, 1972) was used successfully in 1979 by two representative bodies in the grocery trade (IADT and RGDATA) who sought and obtained an injunction in the High Court preventing a multiple supermarket group from advertising the sale of grocery goods below cost, something which was already prohibited under the existing Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order, 1978.
It is open to any representative association or individual to take similar action where they feel their interests are being adversely affected and I would, of course, welcome any action which would help to increase compliance with any statutory provision currently in force.