Vol. 404 No. 1
20 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce his views on whether it is in the interest of the producer and consumer that a ceiling should apply to market share for any one company, particularly in the beef processing business; and if so, if he will outline the plans he has to bring about this situation.
The present provisions governing control of monopolies are contained in the Mergers, Take-overs and Monopolies (Control) Act, 1978, as amended. The Act defines a monopoly as existing where an enterprise, or enterprises under common control, provides or supplies, or to which is supplied or provided, not less than one half, 50 per cent, of goods or services of a particular kind in the State in a particular year. However, this does not apply to an enterprise which exports at least 90 per cent of output from the State. I do not believe that it is realistic to fix an arbitrary figure as a ceiling on the market share of any enterprise in a particular sector. When considering merger proposals under the 1978 Act I have to take account of the likely effect on competition of any increase in market share of the enterprises concerned. But this is an issue that cannot be decided by reference to some automatic mathematical formula decided in abstract. It requires examination case by case. The extent of market share, actual and potential, held by others is one of the factors to be considered. This changes over time.
Of course what is important is not so much size of market share but rather behaviour. For this reason the Competition Bill which I hope to publish early next year will introduce the concept of "abuse of dominant position". The provisions of the Bill will apply to all sectors of business and industry.
