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Number 4 of 2006 
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COMPETITION (AMENDMENT) ACT 2006 
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ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
Section 
1.	 Amendment of Competition Act 2002 by inserting new Part 
2A. 
2. Amendment of section 30 of Competition Act 2002. 
3. Amendment of section 45 of Competition Act 2002. 
4. Revocation of Groceries Order. 
5. Repeals. 
6. Short title, collective citation and commencement. 
SCHEDULE 
Enactments Repealed 
———————— [No. 4.] Competition (Amendment) Act 2006. [2006.] 
Acts Referred to 
Competition Act 2002 2002, No. 14 
Interpretation Act 2005 2005, No. 23 
Restrictive Practices Act 1972 1972, No. 11 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1975 1975, No. 15 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1978 1978, No. 11 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1979 1979, No. 14 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1980 1980, No. 19 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1981 1981, No. 4 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1987 1987, No. 23 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 1974 1974, No. 4 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 
1978 1978, No. 12 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 
1980 1980, No. 38 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 
1981 1981, No. 7 
Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 3) Act 
1978 1978, No. 31 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 
1956 1956, No. 15 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 
1960 1960, No. 20 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 
1963 1963, No. 6 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 
1966 1966, No. 11 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 
1969 1969, No. 28 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 
1972 1972, No. 18 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 
1958 1958, No. 31 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 
1962 1962, No. 16 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 
1972 1972, No. 8 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 
2) Act 1956 1956, No. 16 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 
2) Act 1962 1962, No. 30 
Restrictive Trade Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 
3) Act 1956 1956, No. 33 
2 ———————— 
Number 4 of 2006 
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COMPETITION (AMENDMENT) ACT 2006 
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AN ACT TO AMEND THE COMPETITION ACT 2002 BY PRO­
VIDING, IN THE INTERESTS OF THE COMMON GOOD, 
FOR THE PROHIBITION OF ACTIVITIES WHICH PREVENT, RESTRICT OR DISTORT COMPETITION IN TRADE IN GROCERY GOODS IN THE STATE, TO RE­VOKE THE RESTRICTIVE PRACTICES (GROCERIES) ORDER 1987 AND TO REPEAL THE RESTRICTIVE PRACTICES (CONFIRMATION OF ORDER) ACT 1987 AND OTHER RELATED AND SPENT ACTS. 
[11th March, 2006] 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS: 
1.—The Competition Act 2002 is amended by inserting the follow­
ing Part after Part 2: 
“PART 2A 
Competition in Grocery Goods Trade 
Definitions 15A.—(1) In this Part— and operation 
of this Part. 
‘allowance’ includes any discount, rebate, price 
concession or other advantage that is collateral to a sale or purchase of grocery goods but is not ap­plied directly to the selling or purchase price; 
‘grocery goods’ means any food or drink for 
human consumption that is intended to be sold as groceries, and includes— 
(a) any substance or thing sold or rep­
resented for use as food or drink for human consumption, 
(b) any substance or thing sold or rep­
resented for use as an additive, ingredi­ent or processing aid in the preparation or production of food or drink for human consumption, and 
(c) intoxicating liquors; Amendment of 
Competition Act 2002 by inserting new Part 2A. 
3 S.1 [No. 4.] Competition (Amendment) Act 2006. [2006.] 
Anti-
competitive conduct in grocery goods trading. ‘grocery goods undertaking’ means, subject to sub­
sections (2) and (3), an undertaking that is en­gaged for gain in the production, supply or distri­bution of grocery goods, whether or not the under­taking is engaged in the direct sale of those goods to the public; 
‘retailer’ means a grocery goods undertaking that 
sells or resells grocery goods directly to the public. 
(2) For the purposes of this Part, an under­
taking that produces, supplies or distributes an ad­ditive, ingredient or processing aid referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition of ‘grocery goods’ in subsection (1) is not a grocery goods under­taking unless the additive, ingredient or processing aid is intended to be sold by a retailer as an addi­tive, ingredient or processing aid. 
(3) Subsection (2) applies only to the extent 
that the undertaking does not otherwise fall within the definition of ‘grocery goods undertaking’ in subsection (1). 
(4) For the avoidance of doubt, this Part does 
not apply to that part of an undertaking’s oper­ation the business of which is to do any of the following: 
(a) serve or supply food or drink in the co­
urse of providing catering, restaurant or take-away services or any similar hospitality services; 
(b) serve or supply intoxicating liquor for 
consumption on the premises. 
(5) This Part operates without prejudice to 
Part 2. 
15B.—(1) Subject to subsection (5), a grocery 
goods undertaking shall not directly or indirectly attempt to compel or coerce another grocery goods undertaking, whether by threat, promise or any like means, to resell or advertise for resale any grocery goods at— 
(a) a price fixed directly or indirectly by the 
first mentioned grocery goods under­taking, or 
(b) a price above a minimum price fixed di­
rectly or indirectly by the first men­tioned grocery goods undertaking. 
(2) Subject to subsection (5), a grocery goods 
undertaking shall not apply dissimilar conditions to equivalent transactions with any other grocery goods undertaking. 
(3) Subject to subsection (5), a grocery goods 
undertaking shall not directly or indirectly compel or coerce, whether by threat, promise or any like 
4 S.1 [2006.] Competition (Amendment) Act 2006. [No. 4.] 
Right of action 
for breach of section 15B. means, another grocery goods undertaking to 
make any payment or grant any allowance for the advertising or display of grocery goods. 
(4) Subject to subsection (5) and without 
limiting the generality of subsection (3), a retailer shall not directly or indirectly compel or coerce, whether by threat, promise or any like means, another grocery goods undertaking to make any payment or grant any allowance to the retailer in consideration of any of the following matters: 
(a) providing space for grocery goods 
within a new retail outlet on or within the first 60 days after its opening to the public; 
(b) providing space for grocery goods 
within a newly expanded or extended retail outlet on or within the first 60 days after the opening to the public of the expanded or extended part of the outlet; 
(c) providing space for grocery goods 
within a retail outlet on or within the first 60 days after its opening to the public under new ownership. 
(5) Conduct described in subsections (1) to (4) 
shall not be prohibited unless it has as its object or effect the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition in trade in any grocery goods in the State or in any part of the State. 
15C.—(1) Any person who is aggrieved in con­
sequence of any conduct which is prohibited under section 15B shall have a right of action under this subsection for relief against any of the following: 
(a) any grocery goods undertaking which is 
or has at any material time been a party to the prohibited conduct; 
(b) any director, manager or other officer of 
such an undertaking, or a person who purported to act in any such capacity, who authorised or consented to, as the case may be, the prohibited conduct. 
(2) The Authority shall have a right of action 
under this subsection in respect of conduct which is prohibited under section 15B. 
(3) Subject to subsection (4), an action under 
subsection (1) or (2) may be brought in the Circuit Court or in the High Court. 
(4) Subsections (4) to (6), (8) and (9) of section 
14 apply with the necessary changes for the pur­poses of an action under subsection (1) or (2) of this section and, for those purposes, a reference in subsections (4) to (6), (8) and (9) of section 14 to 
5 S.1 [No. 4.] Competition (Amendment) Act 2006. [2006.] 
Amendment of 
section 30 of Competition Act 2002. 
Amendment of 
section 45 of Competition Act 2002. 
Revocation of 
Groceries Order. an action under subsection (1) or (2) of that 
section is to be read as a reference to an action under subsection (1) or (2) of this section, as the case may be.”. 
2.—Section 30(4)(b) of the Competition Act 2002 is amended by 
substituting “relief under section 14 or 15C” for “relief under section 14”. 
3.—Section 45(13)(a) of the Competition Act 2002 is amended by 
substituting “under section 14 or 15C,” for “under section 14,”. 
4.—(1) The Restrictive Practices (Groceries) Order 1987 (S.I. No. 
142 of 1987) is revoked. 
(2) The revocation of the order under subsection (1) of this 
section does not— 
(a) revive anything not in force or not existing immediately 
before the revocation, 
(b) affect the previous operation of the order or anything duly 
done or suffered under it or in relation to it, 
(c) affect any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, 
accrued or incurred under or in relation to the order, 
(d) affect any penalty, forfeiture or punishment incurred in 
respect of any offence against or in relation to or contra­vention of or in relation to the order which was commit­ted before the revocation, or 
(e) prejudice or affect any legal proceedings (civil or criminal) 
pending at the time of the revocation in respect of any such right, privilege, obligation, liability, offence or con­travention. 
(3) Any legal proceedings (civil or criminal) in respect of— 
(a) a right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued 
or incurred under or in relation to the order referred to in subsection (1) of this section, 
(b) an offence against or in relation to that order, or 
(c) a contravention of or in relation to that order, 
may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any penalty, forfeiture or punishment in respect of an offence under paragraph (b) of this 
subsection or a contravention under paragraph (c) of this subsection 
may be imposed and carried out, as if the order had not been revoked. 
(4) This section operates without prejudice to section 27 of the 
Interpretation Act 2005. 
5.—(1) The enactments referred to in the Schedule to this Act are 
repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule. 
Repeals. 
6 S.5 [2006.] Competition (Amendment) Act 2006. [No. 4.] 
(2) In so far as it is unrepealed, the Restrictive Practices Act 1972 
is repealed. 
6.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Competition (Amendment) 
Act 2006. 
(2) This Act and the Competition Act 2002 may be cited together 
as the Competition Acts 2002 and 2006. 
(3) This Act shall come into operation on such day or days as the 
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment may appoint by 
order or orders either generally or with reference to any particular purpose or provision and different days may be so appointed for different purposes or different provisions. 
SCHEDULE 
Enactments Repealed Short title, 
collective citation and commencement. 
Section 5(1). 
Number and Year 
(1) Short Title 
(2) Extent of Repeal 
(3) 
No. 15 of 1956 Restrictive Trade Prac­
tices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1956 The whole Act 
No. 16 of 1956 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 1956 The whole Act 
No. 33 of 1956 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 3) Act 1956 The whole Act 
No. 31 of 1958 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 1958 The whole Act 
No. 20 of 1960 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1960 The whole Act 
No. 16 of 1962 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 1962 The whole Act 
No. 30 of 1962 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 1962 The whole Act 
No. 6 of 1963 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1963 The whole Act 
No. 11 of 1966 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1966 The whole Act 
No. 28 of 1969 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1969 The whole Act 
No. 8 of 1972 Restrictive Trade Prac­tices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 1972 The whole Act 
7 Sch. [No. 4.] Competition (Amendment) Act 2006. [2006.] 
Number and Year 
(1) Short Title 
(2) Extent of Repeal 
(3) 
No. 18 of 1972 Restrictive Trade Prac­
tices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1972 The whole Act 
No. 4 of 1974 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Orders) Act 1974 The whole Act 
No. 15 of 1975 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1975 The whole Act 
No. 11 of 1978 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1978 The whole Act 
No. 12 of 1978 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 1978 The whole Act 
No. 31 of 1978 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 3) Act 1978 The whole Act 
No. 14 of 1979 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1979 The whole Act 
No. 19 of 1980 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1980 The whole Act 
No. 38 of 1980 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 1980 The whole Act 
No. 4 of 1981 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1981 The whole Act 
No. 7 of 1981 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) (No. 2) Act 1981 The whole Act 
No. 23 of 1987 Restrictive Practices (Confirmation of Order) Act 1987 The whole Act 
No. 14 of 2002 Competition Act 2002 Section 49 
8