Ireland looks to raise turnover thresholds for mergers

The Irish government has launched a public consultation on the proposal to increase the turnover thresholds that would trigger mandatory reporting – with an increase for individual turnover thresholds from €10 million to €15m, and an aggregated threshold rise from €60m to €100m.

The new proposal is expected to save Irish firms around €1.8million a year in reduced costs and fees, with Irish enterprise minister Peter Burke claiming the proposed increase would allow the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to place greater focus on mergers with potential to have a distortive effect on competition within the state.

However Paul Williams, a mergers expert with Pinsent Masons, said that against the backdrop of the CCPC’s call‑in power – which enables the authority to require notification of transactions that fall below the financial thresholds – the proposed increase in those thresholds, while welcome, may in practice lead to more deals being called in for review, creating additional challenges for businesses.

“The proposed increases to the merger notification thresholds are a welcome development in removing small transactions from the mandatory filing requirement,” he said.

“However, this could also lead to a higher number of ‘call ins’ by the CCPC for below-threshold transactions which might raise competition concerns.”

The turnover thresholds were last raised by the Irish government in 2019, although Ireland’s Competition Act, 2002 (as amended) gives the enterprise minister the power to do so once per year.

Raising the financial thresholds would account for the effects of inflation since the last rise, and would align Ireland closer to other European economies.

Ciarán Campbell, a competition expert with Pinsent Masons, explained: "Of the European countries considered by the CCPC during its threshold comparison exercise, the mean aggregate and individual turnover thresholds are around €88 million and €15 million respectively – so, the proposed increase does bring Ireland in line with its European counterparts. 

“Given that the CCPC has, as part of its enforcement toolkit, a call‑in power - most recently exercised in the Uniphar/TouchStore transaction - one might have expected the individual target‑specific threshold to be set somewhat higher - for example, around €20 million - to ensure that only targets with a substantial nexus to Ireland fall within the scope of merger control.

“However, the increase is nonetheless a welcome development.”

The consultation will close on 1 May 2026.