A Dublin car dealer has been arrested and questioned in a Garda station in the first such move by the Competition Authority.

The man, who is not being named for legal reasons, was arrested at his place of work and brought to a nearby station where he was questioned for 12 hours.

It is understood that the arrest occurred in February but has not been previously reported.

The arrest was connected to the ongoing price-fixing inquiry being carried out by the Competition Authority and is the first known instance of the authority taking such a step. The arrest was carried out by Garda officers associated with the authority as well as local officers.

Contacted in his office yesterday, the man involved said that he would not be commenting on the matter.

He is a well-known and well-established figure in the motor sector who works for a well-known car dealership. He is also a former officer of the car dealers association for a well-known marque.

A spokesman for the Competition Authority also said that he did not wish to comment.

The inquiry by the Competition Authority has been ongoing since late 1993 and is being conducted in conjunction with the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation. A file is being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions for some time and it is not known how near it is to completion.

In November and December 2003 up to 17 raids were carried out on a number of car dealerships as well as on the home of a man associated with one car dealers' association.

The inquiry is understood to be investigating suspicions that a secret monitoring system may have been put in place by industry representatives to check on the prices being charged by car dealers.

Spokesmen for a number of outlets that were raided in 2003 have said they knew of no anti-competitive practices in the sector.