Ms Clare McNamara:

The Deputy asked about actual cases in the past that could have been taken. We have not really examined that. I mentioned the example of the "dieselgate" situation back in 2015. Another example the Deputy may be aware of is the French leaseback situation, where consumers from all over Europe - Irish consumers were affected as well - bought properties in France with the guarantee of a leaseback and then found it did not work out. The French consumer agency is investigating complaints on people's behalf. If this legislation had been in place at the time, there may have been a case for a representative action to be taken in France, with consumers from all over the EU joining in on that.

As to how a case would be taken, I may have already outlined this. It would be done under existing High Court procedures. The qualified entity, regardless of what body it is, would have to engage in all of the dispute resolution mechanisms or try to avail of the dispute resolution mechanisms that already apply. It would have to go into pre-litigation consultation and only after that can it follow the normal High Court procedures in seeking an injunction or injunctive relief from the trader on behalf of the group of consumers it is representing.