The Competition Authority expects to complete one cartel investigation leading to criminal proceedings each year, the chairman of the authority said yesterday.
Dr John Fingleton said that, based on the agency's experience in 2003 - its first full year under new competition law and with almost a full complement of staff - an estimate could be made of what would constitute a reasonable annual output for the agency.
He said that as well as one full cartel investigation, a handful of other, mostly civil, investigations leading to proceedings or enforcement decisions could also be expected.
The agency could also be expected to complete reasoned decisions on all notified mergers within statutory deadlines and one full formal study, as well as conducting ongoing advocacy work on a number of key sectors.
Dr Fingleton, speaking at the publication of the agency's annual report for 2003, said the workload associated with mergers meant that staff would have to be shifted from enforcement and advocacy work.
He said one significant cartel inquiry could take eight members of staff one year to bring it to the book of evidence stage.
The annual report shows that 21 search warrants were issued in 2003. A number of these were in relation to a single inquiry. There were 69 summonses issued during the year.
The authority has 34 staff and five authority members.
He said that the authority's budget represents about €1 per citizen per year, compared with closer to €2 in the UK. He also said the absence here of civil fine penalties for breaches of competition law meant that more resources needed to be put into public enforcement.
He said the authority worked in a "target rich" environment. In the past two years, it had produced recommendations on the pharmacy sector, the retailing of alcohol and the groceries sector "all of which remain outstanding".
He said that, ultimately, the Government decides the most important questions in the competition area. Vested interests have been successful in dressing up their agenda as "protecting" consumers.
"In fact, it is difficult to find examples where Ireland has embraced competition".
Dr Fingleton said he expected evidence from persons who had been given immunity from prosecution to feature in some of the cases pending before the courts.
The authority has a "whistleblowers" immunity programme, which is open to the first person to come forward in relation to any particular cartel.
The approach to the authority has to be made by way of a dedicated phone number. This is in case of any dispute arising in regard to who was the first to come forward in relation to a particular cartel.
Dr Fingleton said he believed the agency gave good value for money.
It was making progress at a reasonable pace and would, in time, be judged not on the speed with which it operated but rather on the quality of the work it produced.
