The Competition Authority is responsible for enforcing Irish and European Union competition law. Behaviour that deprives consumers of the benefits of competition reduces the choice available to consumers, causes them to pay more, deprives them of new products and services, and undermines economic growth.

For any breach of Irish or European Union competition law, we have the right to seek a criminal prosecution or to pursue the matter in the civil courts or both.

• Hard core cartels (price fixing, restricting output/limiting production, bid-rigging and customer/market allocation) are among the most serious breaches of competition law and are always pursued in the criminal courts (see criminal court cases). Any businesses and individuals who are found guilty of hard-core cartel offences can face a number of penalties, including fines and prison sentences.
• Generally, for non hard core cartel agreements and abuse of dominance cases, we take civil proceedings in the High Court to compel parties to cease their illegal activity (see civil court cases).

Although some of our investigations result in either criminal court cases or civil court cases, many are closed without the need for court proceedings (see closed investigations).

Private Actions

Section 14 of the Competition Act 2002 allows aggrieved individuals to bring an action for damages in either the Circuit or High Court.

Reporting anti-competitive behaviour

If you wish to report anti-competitive behaviour you can submit a complaint here.

Guidance

Many of these matters involve complex legal and economic issues, therefore we also develop guidance for businesses on how to comply with competition law. Guidance is provided either through the publication of Decision Notes or Guidance Notices; these are provided for guidance only and are not legally binding.

Declarations

We can also issue declarations that certain categories of agreements, if they comply with certain conditions, are not prohibited by section 4 of the Competition Act 2002.