11A. (1) An action for damages under subsection (1) of section 14 of the Act of 2002 shall not be brought after the expiration of 6 years from the latest occurring of the following dates:

(a) the date on which the infringement of competition law to which the cause of action relates ceased;

(b) the date on which the person in whom the cause of action vests came to know or could reasonably be expected to have come to know of the acts or omissions that constituted such infringement;

(c) the date on which that person came to know or could reasonably be expected to have come to know that those acts or omissions constituted such an infringement;

(d) the date on which that person came to know or could reasonably be expected to have come to know that the infringement caused harm (within the meaning of the Directive) to that person;

(e) the date on which that person came to know or could reasonably be expected to have come to know the identity of the infringer concerned.

(2) Any period during which—

(a) an investigation under—

(i) Part 4A (inserted by section 31 of the Communications Regulation (Amendment) Act 2007) of the Act of 2002, or

(ii) paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 10 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014,

in relation to an infringement of competition law, or

(b) an investigation by the Commission of the European Union or a foreign competition authority in relation to an infringement of competition law,

is being conducted, shall not, as respects a cause of action relating to that infringement, be reckonable for the purpose of determining the period of 6 years referred to in subsection (1).

(3) Any period during which—

(a) proceedings for an offence consisting of an infringement of competition law,

(b) an action under section 14A (inserted by section 4 of the Competition (Amendment) Act 2012) of the Act of 2002 in relation to an infringement of competition law, or

(c) any other proceedings in relation to an infringement of competition law to which the competent authority (within the meaning of the Act of 2002) is a party,

is or are pending, shall not, as respects a cause of action relating to that infringement, be reckonable for the purpose of determining the period of 6 years referred to in subsection (1).

(4) Any period during which—

(a) proceedings before the General Court or the Court of Justice of the European Union in relation to an infringement of competition law,

(b) proceedings for an offence under the law of a Member State (other than the State) in relation to an infringement of competition law, or

(c) any other proceedings in such a Member State in relation to an infringement of competition law to which a foreign competition authority is a party,

is or are pending, shall not, as respects a cause of action relating to that infringement, be reckonable for the purpose of determining the period of 6 years referred to in subsection (1).

(5) Any period during which a consensual dispute resolution process (within the meaning of the Directive) relating to an infringement of competition law is being conducted shall not, as respects a cause of action relating to that infringement, be reckonable for the purpose of determining the period of 6 years referred to in subsection (1), provided that the parties to that consensual dispute resolution process are the person in whom the cause of action vests and the person against whom the cause of action lies.

(6) The period of one year from—

(a) the conclusion or discontinuance of an investigation referred to in subsection (2),

(b) the giving of final judgment in, or the discontinuance of, proceedings referred to in subsection (3) or (4),

(c) the giving of final judgment in, or the discontinuance of, the action referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (3),

shall not be reckonable for the purpose of determining the period of 6 years referred to in subsection (1).

(7) This section does not apply to an infringement of competition law that occurred before 27 December 2016.

(8) In this section—

‘Act of 2002’ means the Competition Act 2002;

‘Directive’ means Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014¹ on certain rules governing actions for damages under national law for infringements of the competition law provisions of the Member States and of the European Union;

‘foreign competition authority’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Regulations of 2017;

‘infringement of competition law’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Regulations of 2017;

‘infringer’ has the meaning assigned to it by the Regulations of 2017;

‘Regulations of 2017’ means the European Union (Actions for Damages for Infringements of Competition Law) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 43 of 2017).]