Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Under this Government, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has seen record levels of funding and staffing. In 2020 the CCPC received €12.3 million in exchequer funding and in 2023 it received just over €19 million. The CCPC will be allocated approximately €24 million for 2024. The 2024 funding represents an increase of €4.9 million on last year, and a 90% increase on 2020 levels. The CCPC’s sanctioned headcount is 207. As of the end of October 2023 the serving sanctioned numbers of staff in the CCPC was 184. There are currently 23 vacancies which are in the recruitment pipeline. Overall, the CCPC estimates that it will hit a total recruitment for 2023 of 96 staff.

In addition to its Exchequer funding, the CCPC has the power under the Central Bank Reform Act 2010 to impose an annual levy on regulated financial services firms to meet the cost of the financial information and education functions. This is referred to as Levy funding. This levy funding is used in relation to the CCPC’s role in providing information for consumers in relation to financial services. The CCPC Levy funding for 2023 is €3,703,598, up from €2,420,906 in 2022. The CCPC 2024 levy is currently under consideration.

In addition to funding, the CCPC has been given significant new powers. In particular, the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 came into force on 27 September 2023. It greatly enhances the ability of the CCPC to tackle cartels, bid rigging in public procurement, anti-competitive practices, and anti-competitive mergers. For the first time in Irish law, breaches of competition law can be enforced through administrative actions taken by the CCPC, with maximum fines of up to €10 million or 10% of total worldwide turnover, whichever is greater.

In summary, the Government has provided record funding and staff levels to the CCPC to enable it better to carry out its role promoting compliance with, and enforcing, competition and consumer protection law in Ireland.