Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 December 2023
87. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department is considering the introduction of further legislation to support the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission to detect bid rigging in public procurement processes. [55595/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Review of Structures and Strategies to Prevent, Investigate and Penalise Economic Crime and Corruption, often referred to as ‘the Hamilton Report’ was published in December 2020. It contained a number of recommendations focusing primarily on legislative, structural, and resourcing measures to enhance the capacity of agency and multi-agency enforcement and the prevention of corruption and white-collar crime offences.
The report outlines two recommendations related to bid-rigging. Recommendation 17 proposes that ‘Irish competition law be amended to create a specific offence of bid-rigging or, in the alternative, specify bid-rigging as an offence in the form of market sharing’. This recommendation was achieved through the enactment of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022.
Recommendation 18 arising from the report states ‘The Review Group recommends that specific legislation be introduced to enable the collection, collation and analysis of all public procurement data to detect and deter bid-rigging’. Following this recommendation, as the agency with responsibility for enforcement in this area, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) carried out an initial scoping exercise to determine how this could be achieved and the matter is the subject of ongoing engagement to further inform a legislative proposal.
My officials are exploring, with the relevant officials in other bodies, how any proposed legislation would best support the CCPC's activities in this area. I anticipate that my officials will make a recommendation to me in due course on taking forward a legislative proposal on this matter.
