The Irish Competition Authority in July 2010 rejected all four complaints against the PPP contract for the Dublin Waste to Energy Project ( click to see DWTE project page ) , made by the Irish Waste Management Association (an association of 26 private waste management companies) in December of 2009.
Durango Browne, as a subconsultant to the RPS - COWI Joint Venture, acted as Dublin City Council's (DCC) commercial negotiator for the PPP contract. Durango Browne recognizes the competitive tensions that arise in markets served simultaneously by the public and private sector, and is pleased that the Competition Authority has found that the commercial mechanisms that we helped develop for the PPP contract are fully in line with Irish and EU law.
The complaints were:
- complaint - 1 That DCC (Dublin City Council) and DWEL (Dublin Waste to Energy Ltd, the private developer) may have entered into arrangements that could amount to a concerted practice in breach of section 5 of the Irish Competition Act of 2002.
- complaint - 2 That DWEL and DCC could use the specifics of the "put or pay" clause in the PPP contract to engage in an abuse of a dominant position in the market for waste treatment by engaging in predatory pricing, thereby breaching section 5 of the Act.
- complaint - 3 That the PPP contract between DCC and DWEL amounts to a State Aid in breach of European Law.
- complaint - 4 That the PPP contract between DCC and DWEL contains price-fixing arrangements between the parties in breach of section 4 of the Act.
The Competition Authority concluded ( click to see full ruling ):
"Following the [Competition] Authority's investigation of the contract between DWEL and DCC, taking account of the proposed Poolbeg incinerator's [Dublin Waste to Energy Project's] context in the waste treatment market, the Authority has come to the conclusion that there is no breach of Irish competition law in relation to any of the above complaints."
Dublin City Council stated ( click to see press release ):
"We are delighted that the Competition Authority is the latest statutory agency to confirm that the Poolbeg Waste to Energy plant is fully within the law."