It is Government policy that competition can play a key role in ensuring that the Irish economy regains its competitiveness.  The Government believes that increased competition contributes strongly to achieving high productivity and keeping prices low and therefore must operate in all sectors of the economy.

Competition benefits everyone

Competition benefits everyone; consumers, businesses and the economy as a whole. Competition ensures that consumers of goods and services, from individual shoppers to businesses, benefit from paying less, and receiving more choice and quality for their money. These benefits come about because competition encourages businesses to compete for customers. 

When consumers benefit from competition, then the economy does too. For example, when electricity costs fall due to greater competition, the cost of doing business falls; this makes Irish businesses more competitive, which in turn supports long-term economic growth.

How the Competition Authority helps

As part of our role to promote competition, we:

• Carry out Market Studies to assess competition in a particular sector of the economy and recommend ways of improving it so that consumers benefit. We have published comprehensive reports on twelve sectors of the economy since 2000. Our studies are available here.
• Give advice to Government Departments, public authorities and other State bodies on the implications for competition of proposed and existing laws, regulations, and policies. We often do this informally. However, if a Minister or other public body consults publicly on policy proposals which may affect competition, we will often make a public submission outlining our views. A list of our published submissions is available here. 
• Speak at conferences and events. Speeches and Presentations are available here. If you wish to invite the Competition Authority to speak at a conference or event, please contact us.  
• Publish guidance on how to comply with competition law, and information booklets  which provide general information on the role competition law and policy play in the economy and what to do if you suspect a breach of competition law.
• Give media interviews to raise awareness of competition policy. A list of our media appearances is available here.

The Bid-rigging Road Show

The Competition Authority has designed a Bid-rigging Road Show to promote competition in public procurement; our presentations aim to raise awareness of the harm caused by bid-rigging and the role of the Authority in investigating suspected cases of bid-rigging. To find out more about the road show and how to organise a presentation by the Competition Authority, please click here.