Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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414. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the report by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission into the use of personal contract plans in the car finance market; and her further views on the recommendations including a public information and awareness campaign to be rolled out to ensure consumers are fully aware of their rights and obligations. [12745/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the publication on 6 March 2018 by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) of its report on the personal contract plan (PCP) car finance market. The report contains a number of recommendations, mainly for consideration by the Department of Finance and the Central Bank of Ireland, which, if acted upon, would afford additional protections to consumers in the PCP market, in the event that significant consumer issues arise in future. The CCPC, for its own part, undertook to review the information it provides to consumers in light of the findings of the report and continue to conduct public awareness initiatives.

As the Deputy may be aware, the CCPC has conducted several public awareness campaigns in relation to PCP car finance, including campaigns in 2016 and 2017. I understand from the CCPC that, following on from the publication of its report, it is currently developing a public information and awareness campaign on the PCP market for Q2 2018. The campaign is being designed to help consumers who may be considering PCP to finance the purchase of new or second-hand cars to be informed of the costs, risks and benefits of the product. In developing the PCP report, I understand that the CCPC commissioned the ESRI to undertake a series of behavioural experiments with consumers through its Programme of Research Investigating Consumer Evaluations (PRICE) Lab on the PCP market. The CCPC has informed my Department that it is currently conducting a full review of its consumer information on the topic in order to take account of the findings of that research: these findings will also inform the CCPC’s upcoming public awareness campaign.