Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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36. To ask the Minister for Finance his plans to modernise the consumer protection regulations and laws as they relate to financial products; and his views on whether the Central Bank is the appropriate body for this consumer protection role. [34031/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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My Department continually keeps financial legislation under review to ensure consumers are protected. A number of other bodies also have a role in this area which ensures that a robust consumer protection framework for financial products and services is in place.

The Central Bank's mission statement is "safeguarding stability, protecting consumers". The Central Bank, in its Annual Report, Annual Performance Statement and Consumer Protection Outlook Report, sets out in a comprehensive how it delivers on its consumer protection mandate.  The Central Bank has also reviewed and updated a number of its codes in this area including; the Code of Conduct on Mortgage Arrears, the Consumer Protection Code and the Code of Conduct for Business Lending to Small and Medium Enterprises, in order to ensure the consumer protection framework remains effective.

In addition, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has a broad mandate, with statutory responsibility for the enforcement of competition and consumer protection law. The CCPC also has a specific role under legislation to provide personal finance information and education to consumers.

Furthermore, the Financial Services Ombudsman's Bureau provides for independent, impartial investigation and resolution of disputes between consumers and financial service providers and the services of the Ombudsman are free to the complainant. 

As the Deputy will be aware, the Consumer Protection Framework for consumers of financial services has undergone significant changes on both a domestic and European level over recent years.

By way of example, the Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act, 2015 was enacted on 8 July 2015. It was introduced to fill the consumer protection gap where loans were sold by the original lender to an unregulated entity.

In the area of residential mortgages, the European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016 (SI 142/16) have transposed the Mortgage Credit Directive into Irish law. This Directive provides that certain minimum consumer information and protection measures such as the provision of standardised pre-contractual information, common requirements for the calculation of the APRC, the requirement on a lender to conduct a credit worthiness assessment prior to offering mortgage credit are to apply across the EU. 

In September of this year, the Payment Accounts Directive came into effect in Ireland. The Directive introduces new rules in relation to transparency and the comparability of fees connected to payment accounts, switching from one payment account provider to another and accessing payment accounts.

Furthermore, changes in this area continue to take place. For example, the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) is due to be transposed by January 2018. PSD2 aims to further develop the aims of the first Payment Services Directive (PSD1) by regulating new market players, enhancing consumer protection and ensuring competition within the industry whilst maintaining a level playing field, and harmonising the regulations across Europe.