ED-01-008

Date: 10 October 2008

Description

The Competition Authority issued an enforcement decision giving its view that, for the purposes of Irish and EC competition law, the HSE is not an ‘undertaking’ when it engages in various activities relating to the administration of various drugs schemes, and that it therefore cannot infringe competition law in that context. The Authority had received several complaints alleging that the HSE was violating competition laws. For example, it was alleged that the HSE was abusing a dominant position as the sole purchaser of pharmacy services from retail pharmacies operating under various drugs schemes, such as the General Medical Scheme (GMS) and the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS).