National Consumer Agency seeks Consumer Advocates

[Brendan Burgess]

This ad appeared in the papers on 3rd September. The NCA would like to hear from you if you would be prepared to represent the views of consumers.

Full details on the consumerconnect website

The National Consumer Agency today issued a call to consumers to register their interest in acting as consumer representatives.
The NCA is seeking to establish a panel of consumers who would be willing to serve as consumer representatives and from which interested organizations can draw.
The NCA is seeking consumers with an interest in a wide range of areas - from Agriculture to Retail, Construction and Financial Services to Arts, Entertainment and Recreation, to name but a few.
The NCA will establish a database of names, drawn from consumers who express an interest in becoming a consumer representative that organisations can draw on if they are seeking a consumer representative for their boards / advisory committees etc.
"The Agency is frequently requested to nominate consumer representatives to the advisory committees or boards of a wide range of organisations in both the public and private sectors," said Ann Fitzgerald, Chief Executive of the National Consumer Agency.
"By putting a call out to the general public we hope to establish a bank of interested and motivated consumers who are willing to represent and defend consumer interests and ensure that the consumer voice is heard. There are no qualifications necessary for application. We are just looking for people with a strong commitment to consumer rights."
The NCA is seeking suitable candidates with an interest in areas including:

• Agriculture
• Arts
• Entertainment and Recreation
• Retail and Construction
• Trade
• Education
• Telecommunications
• Energy
• Travel
• Financial Services
• Health and Social Work
• Legal
• Property
• Wholesale
• Transportation

Interested parties are asked to nominate the areas in which they are interested and email the information, with a detailed curriculum vitae, to panel@nca.ie
Written applications should be sent to The National Consumer Agency, 4 Harcourt Road, Dublin 2. Envelopes should be clearly marked 'Consumer Representative Panel'. All applications must be received by: Noon, Friday 25 September 2009. Further information will be available on ConsumerConnect.ie

 

[Fnergg]

The NCA is an utterly useless, toothless Quango and, as far as I know, has been recommended for extinction by the McCarthy Report. The sooner the better. The above ad is simply a desperate attempt to become more "relevant" and is doomed to failure ...which has been the defining characteristic of the Agency itself.

Regards,

Fnergg

 

[Brendan Burgess]

An Bord Snip suggested merging The National Consumer Agency with the Competition Authority. I think that the government already decided to give the NCA the consumer information functions of the Financial Regulator.

It's easy just to dismiss the NCA or any other body as a "useless, toothless Quango". It is much harder to back up such a statment with reasoned argument.

The NCA has limited resources and uses them fairly effectively in the context of a complex and slow Irish legal system. It has the power to prosecute retailers for breaches of the various acts, but if it was to prosecute every breach it would require a huge staff and would get nothing else done. It has addressed the problems of management companies well, something which no one else has done.

It has used persuasion very effectively - didn't they get the promoter of some gig to make refunds because the gig was so badly managed? This could not have been achieved using legal powers.

Their website is excellent.

When I was Chairman of the Consumer Panel of the Financial Regulator we had a statutory duty to report on the performance of the Financial Regulator. It was a very interesting and time consuming exercize. We had to gather the information, discuss it among ourselves and give the FR a chance to respond.

Fnergg - I suggest that you approach the NCA with an open mind. Start with reading their Annual Report. And I think you will see that they have achieved quite a bit. I am sure you will find weaknesses as well.