Government secures Chamber of Commerce brand

The Government has implemented measures to protect the term "Chamber of Commerce" in the national interest.

Minister for Trade and Commerce Michael Ahern has issued guidelines to the Companies' Registrar under Section 21 of the Companies' Act 1963 outlining that CCI should be consulted on the registration of companies whose names include the term "chamber of commerce".

CCI President Mark Staunton said that: "The success of CCI chambers around the country in providing services to their members and communities has in recent years led to a number of commercial opportunists and single issue groups to try to hijack the 'Chamber of Commerce' brand for their own purposes.

"The 'single issue groups' which sometimes take the form of rogue chambers, tend to promise more than they can hope to deliver in terms of quality or quantity because they do not have the resources or access to the CCI network to enable them to boost their offering to their members," Staunton added.

CCI is Ireland's largest business organisation with 59 affiliated chambers representing more than 12,000 businesses all over Ireland.

Staunton was speaking at the CCI's national conference in Portlaoise.