Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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153. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if an organisation (details supplied) has applied for prescriber status under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 in order to take action against denture manufacturers that illegally provide directly to the public and other unregistered, unregulated practitioners; if so, when the application was received; if it has been approved; when it will be dealt with; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52409/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Section 71 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 deals with court orders prohibiting a trader from committing or engaging in an act or practice prohibited under the Act. Section 71(2) provides among other things that a public body prescribed for the purposes of the subsection may apply to the Circuit Court or High Court for such an order. "Prescribed" is defined in section 2 of the Act to mean "prescribed by regulations made by" the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. The Act does not specify however the criteria to be taken into account by the Minister in considering a request from a public body to be prescribed for the purposes of section 71(2). The public body referred to in the details supplied by the Deputy wrote to me in December 2017 requesting that it be prescribed for the purposes of section 71(2), the first such request by a public body since the enactment of the Act in 2007. A reply issued from my office in January 2018 stating that, while I was open in principle to the request, discussions should be held at official level on a number of issues before any final decision could be taken. An official of my Department met with representatives of the public body in May 2018 and sought information on a number of matters, including details of the number and type of cases in which a court order might be sought, the other enforcement options available to the body to address practices of concern to it, a range of issues relating to the procedure for applying for a court order under the section, and the importance of close cooperation with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. The latter is of particular importance as, in addition to the fact, first, that cases in which a court order is sought by a prescribed body could also be the subject of criminal proceedings initiated by the Commission. Secondly, section 71(5) of the Act provides that where an application for a court order under the section is made by a party other than the Commission, the court may not make the order unless the Commission has been afforded an opportunity to be heard and adduce evidence.  I have considered the various issues raised by the request for prescribed status by the public body in question and am satisfied that according it this status would be appropriate. I propose accordingly to submit a draft statutory instrument to this effect to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in the near future.