Our approach to enforcement
Our enforcement efforts are concentrated on those areas where there is the greatest potential for consumer loss or detriment, while not losing sight of other areas which impact on consumers’ welfare.
We deal with complaints on a risk basis. We also carry out a number of proactive visits to traders over a year to assess compliance and take whatever enforcement actions might be warranted.
This risk-based approach enables us to maximise our resources and ensure that we can tackle the many areas where there is large consumer detriment, for example, the need for fair contract terms in consumer contracts or the problem of car clocking.
We expect businesses to comply fully with consumer law and to treat consumers fairly. We do not hesitate to take a robust approach to enforcement when necessary, using the wide range of enforcement tools available to us.
Voluntary compliance
Our general approach to enforcement of consumer legislation is to promote voluntary compliance where possible and, if this is not forthcoming, take appropriate measures to ensure that the rights of consumers are protected.
The National Consumer Agency has pursued a number of initiatives in its objective of obtaining voluntary compliance:
- Active liaison arrangements with larger retailers, multiples, symbol groups etc
- Working with representative bodies to improve compliance levels
- Raising consumer awareness through the media and provision of information on the NCA websites – ConsumerConnect.ie and NCA.ie
- In the context of complaints received, writing to traders advising them of the allegations, pointing out their obligations and giving them the opportunity to put measures in place to rectify any identified problems
In circumstances where voluntary measures are not achieved to the satisfaction of the NCA, appropriate enforcement actions can be taken, as set out below, to bring about compliance.
Learn more
Read about our enforcement tools
Learn more about the NCA's enforcement role in our latest Annual Report