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The Competition Authority v Irish League of Credit Unions

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In May 2007, the Supreme Court overturned an earlier High Court judgment that the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) had abused its dominant position in the market for savings protection for members’ deposits in credit unions (SPS).

In the High Court proceedings, the Competition Authority alleged that the ILCU was dominant in the market for SPS and had abused this dominance by tying its SPS to the purchase of its credit union representation services. The Competition Authority viewed this loss of access to the SPS as constituting a breach of the law as it would deny non-ILCU credit unions access to an important facility for protecting individual members’ savings.

In the opinion of the Competition Authority this action restricted competition in the market for credit union representation. In October 2004, the High Court found in favour of the Competition Authority.

The ILCU appealed the judgment to the Supreme Court where the High Court’s decision was overturned. This case was the first time that the Supreme Court has been called upon to adjudicate on a substantive issue in Irish competition law.

The full text of the Supreme Court judgment and the earlier High Court judgment are available to download from this page.


Date Printed: 10 September 2010

© The Competition Authority 2010