Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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275. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if she will give consideration to the appointment of part-time members of the CCPC as provided for under section 12(3)(c) of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 in order to ensure that the CCPC has sufficient expertise to allow it to carry out its competition enforcement functions more effectively than is currently the case. [27929/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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There are currently no plans or need to appoint any part-time members to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) under section 12(3)(c) of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014.

This sub-section (which was originally contained in section 35(1)(c) of the Competition Act 2002) is aimed at appointing part-time members to the CCPC where current members are unable to serve due to illness, unavailability due to absence from the State, etc. so as to ensure that the CCPC remains properly constituted or quorate.

Under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014, the CCPC must comprise a Chairperson and between 2 and 6 members: the current CCPC has a Chairperson and 4 members. Appointment of full-time members is governed by section 12 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 which states, amongst other provisions, that such appointments by me, as the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, shall follow an open competition undertaken by the Public Appointments Service.

Enforcement of competition law is one of the statutory functions of the CCPC as a whole, including its staff. Recent recruitments will see the staffing level of the CCPC rise to 91 by the beginning of October. Further recruitment is underway to fill the 16 existing vacancies. The recruitment process is very advanced on some of those posts.