Law Society warns against new powers given to watchdogs

Legal group claims that proposed changes to the forthcoming competition bill would damage Ireland’s attractiveness as an investment location

As part of the proposed legislation the CCPC would be granted additional powers to tackle “bid-rigging”, and would be permitted to undertake covert surveillance on persons suspected of operating cartels

New powers the government intends to grant to Ireland’s competition and telecoms watchdogs are draconian, the Law Society has claimed.

The representative group warned that proposed changes to legislation contained in the forthcoming Competition (Amendment) Bill 2021 would create “significant and unnecessary uncertainty and cost for Irish businesses”, and hamper Ireland’s attractiveness as an investment location.

The bill will transpose the EU's European Competition Network directive. It will enhance the powers of the Competition and ...