Authority hears 31 allegations of illegal cartel moves

THE Competition Authority last year received 31 allegations of organisations trying to forge illegal cartels, according to the authority’s annual report. A cartel is an illegal agreement between two or more competitors not to compete with each other.

Typically they involve a conspiracy between a number of businesses whose basic aim is to cause consumers to pay more for goods and services than they would in a competitive market.

In order to crack down on, what it describes as “criminal conspiracies that are often very complex” the authority has appointed former gardaí to its ranks and also has a detective sergeant with the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation seconded to work with cartels division.