Ireland (April 10, 2002)

Score = 20

Governed by: Competition Act, 2002 (hereinafter referred to as “Competition Act”).

Category	Subcategory	Score	Comment
Scope	Extraterritoriality	1	Article 4(1) says that the prohibitions listed are meant to be applied to all actions that have an effect in Ireland.
Remedies	Fines	1	Article 8 has guidelines for fining.
	Prison Sentences	1	Article 8 allows imprisonment for some violations of Article 6.
	Divestitures	1	Divestiture is allowed in the merger context. Art. 22(3)(c) allows the Authority to condition a merger on certain actions and Art. 26(2) allows the court it issue an injunction if the firms merge without satisfying the conditions.
Private Enforcement	3rd Party Initiation	1	Article 14 gives injured undertakings or individuals a right of action for breaches of competition rules.
	Remedies Available to 3rd Parties	1	Article 14 gives injured undertakings or individuals a right of action for breaches of competition rules.
	3rd Party Rights in Proceedings	1	Article 15 gives a right to appeal to the High Court to any concerned undertaking or any other person aggrieved by the ruling.
Merger Notification	Voluntary	0
	Mandatory	3	Article 18(1) requires notification of mergers.
	Pre-merger	2	Article 18(1) states that firms must notify the Authority within one month of forming an agreement to merge. Moreover, Article 22(3) also implies that the notification must be pre-merger.
	Post-merger	0
Merger Assessment	Dominance	0
	Restriction of Competition	1	Article 22(3) says that the Authority must decide whether the merger will substantially lessen competition.
	Public Interest (Pro D)	0
	Public Interest (Pro Authority)	0
	Other	0
	Efficiency	0
Dominance	Limits Access	1	Article 5(2)(b) prohibits limiting production, markets or development.
	Abusive Acts	1	Article 5(1) prohibits abusive acts by dominant undertakings.
	Price Setting	1	Article 5(2)(a) lists price setting as an abusive act.
	Discriminatory Pricing	1	Article 5(2)(c) prohibits applying dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions.
	Resale Price Maintenance	0
	Obstacles to Entry	0
	Efficiency Defense	0
Restrictive Trade Practices	Price Fixing	1	Article 4(1)(a) prohibits price fixing.
	Tying	1	Article 4(1)(e) prohibits tying arrangements.
	Market Division	0
	Output Restraint	1	Article 4(1)(b) prohibits limiting or controlling production.
	Market Sharing	1	Article 4(1)(c) prohibits market sharing.
	Eliminating Competitors	0
	Collusive Tendering/Bid-Rigging	0
	Supply Refusal	0
	Efficiency Defense	1	Article 4(5) gives an exemption to the 4(1) prohibitions for agreements that contribute to improving the production or distribution of goods or promotes technical or economic progress.