The chairman of Ireland’s consumer watchdog has conceded that it lacks the necessary enforcement powers to appropriately address businesses that violate laws and disappoint consumers. On the occasion of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (CCPC) tenth anniversary in Dublin, Brian McHugh urged the Government to strengthen its ability to enact substantial financial penalties on law-breaking companies.
The CCPC, established in October 2014 as a result of a merger between the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority, bears the responsibility of promoting and ensuring compliance with laws pertaining to consumer protection, competition, product safety, digital and data regulation. Despite recognising the ten-year-long efforts in guarding consumer rights and encouraging fair competition at the event, Mr McHugh emphasised the need to do more for the protection of consumers against non-compliant businesses.
Citing a recent incident where a social media company was fined€310 million by the Data Protection Commission contrasting with an earlier episode where Tesco owned up to incorrect price displays and was merely asked to donate €1,000 to charity, he pushed for change. Mr McHugh appealed to the Government to empower them to levy significant fines for major violations that equate to a portion of the wrongdoer’s business earnings, arguing the present consumer protection situation provides little deterrent and consumers merit better protection.
He made note of the ongoing issue of violations of consumer protection law that cause substantial harm to Irish consumers and businesses, stating that their inspectors encounter businesses that do comply with the law, reinforcing it is not a complex task. Mr McHugh remarked that penalties should bear a proportionate relationship to the offence to deter even large businesses from breaching the law.
At the same gathering, Emer Higgins, the Minister for State at the Department of Enterprise praised the significant contributions of the CCPC to Irish society over the past decade. She acknowledged its notable impact across competition, consumer protection, and product safety, acknowledging its critical role in maintaining the robustness of the Irish economy.