THE Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, has reiterated his support for the Competition Authority which found that Independent Newspapers had abused a dominant position by taking a stake in the Irish Press.
Mr Bruton said yesterday that he "did not see eye to eye" with IBEC, the employers' lobby group, whose Competition Council this week disagreed with the Competition Authority's findings.
IBEC published a report yesterday which said it did not consider that the Competition Authority provided sufficient evidence in its published study to support the conclusion that Independent was in a dominant position as defined by law at the time.
"The question which had to be addressed was whether they held a position which allowed them to operate independently of their customers and their competition," IBEC said.
Mr Bruton said the authority's report "still stands although the issue has moved on." He also said. IBEC did not appear to address the authority's finding that Independent had entered an anti competitive agreement by taking a 24.9 per cent stake in Irish Press and advancing a £2 million loan to the group. Mr Bruton said the anti competitive aspect was at the heart of the authority's report.
The Minister also confirmed that he has still not received all the details he sought from Independent Newspapers concerning its role if the Irish Press titles are relaunched.
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