The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory independent body responsible for the enforcement of domestic and EU competition law in the State. Section 9 (5) of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 provides that the CCPC is independent in the performance of its functions. I, as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, have no direct function in such matters.
I am informed that the CCPC met with my colleagues Minister Donohoe and the then Minister of State Murphy in late 2016 and has had follow-up meetings with officials from the Office of Government Procurement to discuss bid-rigging and the development of a screening tool. Since then, the CCPC has continued to research screening initiatives elsewhere including an initiative launched by the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK which has the potential of being rolled out in the short term. The CCPC is planning an initiative during 2018 to give a platform to agencies from other countries to share their experiences in detecting bid rigging patterns.