Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome both Ministers of State to the House. It is nice to have the two Ministers responsible for the introduction of the Bill in the Chamber. There are no excuses for any more delays. I welcome Councillor Murphy as well.

The EU already boasts some of the most stringent consumer protection regulations in the world. Recent incidents such as the dieselgate scandal, however, have revealed the challenges in fully enforcing these rules. In response, the EU has introduced a new law spanning all member states to address mass breaches of consumer rights committed by private companies, including the 2015 car emissions scandal and the 2017 mass flight cancellations.

The Bill enables multi-party qualified entities to collaborate and represent European consumers who have suffered harm as a result of alleged violation by traders in multiple member states. It is important to note that these measures do not burden businesses with additional administrative requirements and do not impact the majority of traders, who provide good customer services. As the Minister of State noted, the European Commission launched a new deal for consumers package back in 2018, with the aim of facilitating co-ordination and effective action among national consumer authorities at EU level. The purpose is to enhance public enforcement action and improve consumer rights protection. The Bill will implement this directive, which is a welcome development. As the Minister of State observed, we are already behind time in introducing it. I thank him and his officials for bringing forward the Bill.