Two leading home alarm companies are “fully committed” to engaging constructively with the competition watchdog during its ongoing investigation, their lawyers have told the High Court.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) conducted searches in relation to PhoneWatch Ltd and HomeSecure Ltd, both of which are owned by Norwegian firm Sector Alarm Group.
Earlier this week a spokeswoman for the CCPC said its High Court cases against the firms are a “procedural matter related to a criminal investigation under our competition law powers”.
On Friday, the commission’s counsel, Kate Egan, said it is required to apply to the High Court within 30 days of using its search powers under section 33 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 2014.
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Ms Egan said searches have been conducted concerning Phonewatch and HomeSecure.
The CCPC is retaining some material and seeking to agree with the alarm providers on how to approach privileged information. Several meetings have taken place between the regulator and the companies, she said.
Ms Egan asked the judge to adjourn the cases to May 10th to allow the parties to engage further on agreeing a “step plan”.
Imogen McGrath SC, for the companies, said her clients responded in detail on March 14th to the CCPC’s step plan.
The two firms are “fully committed” to engaging constructively with the CCPC in the course of its investigation and are “anxious” to meet with it to discuss certain matters. They feel strongly that there should be in-person meetings between the parties before the cases return to court in May.
Mr Justice Max Barrett was satisfied by the parties’ suggestions and adjourned the cases to May 10th.
He noted he had been alerted to the likelihood of the cases coming before him by his mother who read an article on the matters in The Irish Times.
The CCPC is the statutory body responsible for the enforcement of the State’s competition law, which forbids anti-competitive deals between two or more independent firms, such as to fix prices, share markets or restrict output.
Competition law also forbids firms with a dominant position from engaging in abusive practices, such as predatory pricing or refusal to supply, according to the CCPC.
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