Cartel behaviour is almost inevitably harmful to consumers as it results in their having to pay more than they should for goods and services.
Cartels are, by their very nature, conspiratorial.
The participants are secretive and the detection and prosecution of hard-core cartels is notoriously difficult to achieve. In many jurisdictions, granting immunity from prosecution to the first member of the cartel to self-report on the illegal activity has proved to be an effective tool, both in identifying cartels that were previously hidden and in gathering evidence leading to their prosecution. The Competition Authority wishes to see such an immunity programme introduced in Ireland. The morning session will hear presentations both from experts from the US, Canada and UK on how immunity works in other jurisdictions and from Irish lawyers and economists on cartel policy. This morning session will be of interest to lawyers, policy makers and business people generally.