Plan to combat bid-rigging ‘raises concerns’
Lawyers at Matheson say that a measure aimed at preventing bid-rigging contained in proposed competition and consumer-protection legislation raises “obvious potential concerns”.
Bid-rigging is when businesses agree to fix the outcome of a tender or bidding process, resulting in higher prices than would be reached through competitive tendering.
In 2020, the Hamilton Report on structures and strategies to prevent, investigate, and penalise economic crime and corruption recommended giving the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) access to public procurement data to detect bid-rigging.
‘Technical details critical’
In line with this recommendation, the proposed Consumer Protection, Competition and Enforcement Bill 2026 plans to grant the CCPC the authority to screen public procurement data for patterns of collusion.
In a note on the firm’s website, Matheson’s lawyers say that the plan raises particular concerns for private businesses whose confidential tenders might be accessed by the CCPC and for bodies regulated by procurement law whose tender processes might be reviewed by the CCPC.
“Any new potential CCPC powers must be compliant with EU procurement law, which places a heavy onus on the recipient of a tender to preserve the confidentiality of the tender,” the firm says.
“The technical details on the proposed level of access and bidder anonymisation will be of critical importance in seeking to address concerns regarding the proposal,” it adds.
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has opened a public consultation on the bill, saying that it aims to enhance consumer rights, promote fair competition, and provide stronger enforcement tools to protect consumers and businesses.
Fines
Other measures in the bill include giving the CCPC powers to impose “proportionate” fines for serious breaches of consumer law, reducing reliance on lengthy court processes.
The CCPC currently has powers under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 to issue fixed-payment notices of €1,500 for consumer law breaches.
The competition watchdog, however, has repeatedly called for powers to impose stronger penalties.
The bill also updates the 2022 act to clarify remedies for prohibited practices – including clearer rules on price reductions and contract cancellations.
The department has asked individuals, businesses, and consumer groups to make submissions on the bill by 27 February. Responses should be emailed to conspol@enterprise.gov.ie.