Speedread
The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (the Department) has launched a public consultation on proposed changes to Irish consumer law which would see the introduction of administrative financial sanctions for breaches of consumer law, as well as other amendments to certain existing provisions of consumer protection legislation. This significant change would likely see a further escalation in consumer law risk for businesses in the coming years. Responses to the consultation are sought by 27 February 2026.
Background
Over the past 24 months, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has significantly stepped-up its approach to enforcement of consumer law. This has included a series of well-publicised criminal prosecutions of a number of leading retailers for breaches of pricing laws, as well as co-leading on several ‘coordinated actions’ into key players in the technology and e-commerce sector through the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network.
Throughout this time, the CCPC has frequently highlighted the limitations of its enforcement powers because substantial fines can largely only be imposed following criminal prosecution before the Irish courts, a necessarily slow and resource‑intensive process. Indeed, as far back as October 2024, the Chairperson of the CCPC, Brian McHugh, highlighted the need for more meaningful penalties for breaches of consumer protection legislation, stating that
“…send[ing] a clear message to all businesses on the importance of consumer protection law, the punishment should fit the crime. Fines need to be big enough to stop even the largest businesses from breaking the law.” [1]
Government signalling
This time last year, the Government gave strong indications that it backed a more robust regulation of consumer law. The Programme for Government published on 23 January 2025, proposed an independent review to examine both the further strengthening of legislation and the creation of two separate agencies to better deliver against the competition and consumer protection mandates.
While no specific independent review has been announced, there are plans to move forward with the introduction of new fining powers. The Government’s Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity published on 24 September 2025 flagged an intention to bring forward legislation to provide the CCPC with new powers to impose administrative financial sanctions for breaches of consumer protection legislation, with the timeline for implementation set as Q4 2026. The CCPC already has such administrative sanction powers for certain breaches of competition law, albeit only since 27 September 2023.
As an aside, the Action Plan also noted an intention to introduce legislation to substantially increase the limit of the Small Claims Court procedure (which is currently only open to claims of €2,000 or less) in an effort to improve consumers' access to redress and increase the efficiency with which the Courts can deal with smaller cases. This would align with changes proposed to the monetary jurisdictions of the Courts in the General Scheme of the Civil Reform Bill published just last week. However, the timeline for this proposed amendment is not expected until 2027-2028.
Public consultation now open
On 23 December 2025, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment launched a public consultation on ‘enhancing consumer protection, competition and enforcement of consumer law’. The consultation seeks views to inform the contents of a proposed Consumer Protection, Competition and Enforcement Bill 2026. This is intended to address the introduction of administrative financial sanctions for breaches of consumer law, as well as updating certain consumer protection provisions to make them easier to understand. Separately, the Bill also seeks to provide the CCPC with bid-rigging detection powers under its competition law remit.
(i) Administrative financial sanctions for breaches of consumer law
The Department notes its intention to grant the CCPC with powers to impose direct fines on businesses for breaches of consumer law, albeit limited to “specific circumstances, such as where there are egregious or systemic breaches of consumer law by a business”.
Absent the text of the Bill, it is difficult to assess what specific scenarios the Department has in mind and what may be considered “egregious” or “systemic” although reference is made to aligning with “international best practice”. In this regard, reference is made to administrative fines already being in place in several EU Member States and the UK where there is a notably a higher level of consumer law enforcement activity, particularly over the course of the last year since the introduction of the Digital Markets, Competition & Consumers Act 2024.
Submissions are being welcomed by the Department on two points:
- Do you consider the administrative financial sanctions to be complementary to the existing toolkit available to enforce consumer law?
- Do you consider this approach to be aligned with the Better Regulation principles of regulations being effective and proportionate?
(ii) Strengthening consumer rights and remedies
The Department is also considering certain updates to the Consumer Rights Act 2022 to clarify rules in relation to certain prohibited commercial practices. While the Department has indicated that the current prohibited practices under consideration relate to how price reductions should be calculated and, separately, when consumers can cancel contracts without penalty, this has been expressed to be a non-exhaustive list.
The Department have specifically invited submissions on the following questions
- Are you clear on your rights and responsibilities when buying or selling products or services?
- Are you aware of the rules regarding price reductions and contract cancellations?
- Do you feel the current protections and obligations are fair and effective for in-store and online transactions?
The Department has also sought submissions, more generally, on what additional measures may strengthen consumer protection based on provisions that exist in other Irish legislation, or consumer protection provisions in other Member States or common-law jurisdictions.
(ii) Deadline and how to respond
The closing date for submissions to this consultation is 5pm on Friday, 27 February 2026 and submissions can be emailed to the Department’s Consumer Policy Unit at conspol@enterprise.gov.ie.
Conclusion
It seems likely that these increased fining powers for the CCPC are now imminent. Given its well-forecast intentions to step up enforcement, businesses should consider what compliance gaps may exist, particularly in the CCPC’s priority areas - for example, compliance with pricing rules and mandatory information requirements have been a feature of the CCPC’s enforcement activity in recent years. In saying that, the CCPC may well expand its focus to consider the full remit of businesses’ obligations under the existing consumer laws, as well as forthcoming changes such as the implementation of the Green Transition Directive which is due for transposition by September 2026.
For further information in relation to this topic, please contact Mairead O'Brien, Partner, Denise Daly Byrne, Partner, or Katie O'Connor, Partner from ALG's Consumer & Advertising team.
[1] CCPC marks 10th Anniversary with calls for large fines against companies violating consumer law - CCPC Business
