The State’s competition and mergers regulator is grappling with staff shortages and departures as it faces an increase in its workload in coming years, says a new Government report.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), which polices mergers, cartels and price fixing as well as overseeing consumers’ rights, has had “vacancy challenges” since it was founded in 2014, according to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
Government has approved a full staff of 218 for the commission, but at the end of 2023 it employed 186 people, which equated to 182 full-time workers.
Staffing challenges “can be acute” at the organisation, given its enforcement, regulation and policy advice functions, the department’s latest Critical Review – Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, states. “Many of the required skills are not readily available and experienced staff are often not readily replaceable,” the report adds.
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The CCPC has had vacancies in key areas including cartels, competition enforcement, communications, policy research and product safety, the document shows.
Expanded enforcement powers combined with responsibility for overseeing new laws such as the Consumer Protection Act, 2022, have boosted the commission’s workload, adding to the staffing pressures, it points out.
Meanwhile, senior staff employed at executive and higher executive Civil Service grades leave after an average of “slightly less than three years” while others stay for less than five. Dissatisfaction with pay, promotion prospects and career development are seen as factors prompting many to leave.
Government provides most of the commission’s finance, the report acknowledges. In 2024, the Exchequer accounted for €25.7 million of its total €30.2 million income.
The commission confirmed that it recently established a new research unit that plans to undertake an “ambitious and wide-ranging study into the state of competition across the Irish economy”.
The review of the agency, which the department is required to carry out regularly, highlights that the CCPC has done fewer market studies since 2014 than in the period between that year and 2002, when it was known as the Competition Authority.
Those studies, including on groceries, private health insurance and professions such as GPs and lawyers, focused on increasing competition for consumers’ benefit, and helped cut business costs.
The department wants the CCPC to report on planned market studies, noting that the reduction in activity in this area is notable compared with the 2002 to 2014 period.
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