Mr. Brian McHugh:

On resources, as I have mentioned, we have a very good relationship with our Department. We have had a significant increase in resources and staff. That has been very welcome. We have had a huge increase in the number of new functions we have. That is ongoing. I mentioned it in the opening statement. There is a long list of new legislation that will give us new responsibilities. In order to deliver on these, we will need further resources. I will call out one particular issue that we continue to engage with the Department on. That is senior leadership. There are currently four commissioners at the CCPC. In 2014, when we were merged, there were five. While we have grown hugely and have more budget, which has matched our significant increase in functions and responsibilities, there is a reluctance within the system to allow senior resources at the level of Mr. Kenny and myself. That puts huge stress on the organisation and creates huge risks. With regard to our risk register, it is something we are particularly concerned about.

I will move on to enforcement. When we take on companies, whether Tesco, Ticketmaster, Temu, Shein or any other company, we are taking on very big companies that are very well resourced and which will protect their interests. We therefore need a team with the experience and expertise, whether legal, economic or technological, to sit across the table from a very senior and experienced defence and fight the corner for consumers. We very much welcome the new enforcement powers we received relatively recently in the area of competition. They have made a big difference. We know there are cartels in Ireland that we have not been able to find. We now have more cases than we have ever had before. That is great and we hope to bring them through to the imposition of sanctions at the end of the process.

On consumer enforcement, we have talked about various cases that ended up in a €1,000 contribution to charity. We are really looking forward to getting strong consumer powers because that will make a difference. The decisions that businesses make to comply with the law will change. I particularly call out the businesses that already comply with the law. They will not have to do anything. It is the ones who do not and who currently get away with it that will now have to comply with the law and protect consumers.