Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I will give an example of what happens. The telephone number on the website is the Forfás switchboard. One is put through to voicemail. The person who ultimately answers that voicemail does not know much about the National Consumer Agency or its responsibilities. Another constituent of mine tried to contact the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and was left waiting on the telephone for 30 minutes. In the end, the constituent had to hang up in frustration after that long delay. The Minister will forgive me therefore if, based on that information, I do not have much confidence in the National Consumer Agency. I ask him to ensure that the interim arrangements he has established are actually working because they have not worked to date. Effectively, since Ms Foley left office in August, there has been no proper channel of communication or opportunity for the public to make complaints or get the responses one would expect from a professional statutory body, albeit currently run on an interim basis. Consumers are angry when faced with such a frustrating experience.

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