The consumer protection watchdog has published its guidelines for nursing home contracts which it says will stop “unfair” terms being imposed on residents and their families.

Transport chiefs have been accused of limiting competition and of protecting local hackney drivers after a refusal to grant extra licences for proposed new rural taxi services.

The consumer watchdog claims it is unable to put a timeline on its investigation into anti-competitive practices in the motor insurance market.

The enormity of the challenge taken on by EU agriculture and rural development commissioner Phil Hogan, to help farmers and others by ending unfair trading practices (UTPs) in the EU is becoming clear.

Some 235,000 documents and emails have been examined as part of an ongoing probe into anti-competitive ticket event pricing, the body responsible for the inquiry has said.

News that the State’s consumer watchdog is to examine the personal contract plan (PCP) car finance market has focused attention on what is a little understood financial product.

The consumer protection watchdog is to investigate finance plans used by car dealers.

The consumer protection watchdog will study the use by car dealers of so-called personal contract plans (PCPs) — a type of finance that involve a balloon payment and are linked to future depreciation values — because consumers may not be fully aware of the complexity of the loans.

Increasing competition for consumers and the adoption of the so-called “Danish model” would improve the current “dysfunctional” mortgage market which has an unhealthy level of mistrust between customers and lenders, the chair of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has said.

A consumer watchdog report has found Ireland’s mortgage market is “dysfunctional” and in need of long-term actions to lower the cost of mortgages and to improve improve competition and customer protection.

The consumer watchdog has started unannounced inspections of car dealers to root out traders selling crashed and clocked cars.

The consumer watchdog is to examine if prospective house buyers may be losing out due to the lack of competition in the Irish mortgage lending market.

A formal investigation has been launched by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission into ticketing of live events, citing “suspected breaches of competition law” as the reason for its probe.

Private landlords’ group the Irish Property Owners Association (IPOA) has been reprimanded by the competition regulator over a press release and a meeting where it discussed levying new charges for tenants in response to government plans for rent controls.

Motorists are likely to be hit with further insurance price hikes over the coming months after the country’s insurers made a combined loss of more than €273m last year.

Bid rigging, ‘car-clocking’ and selling of crashed cars were among the offences investigated, and in some cases prosecuted, by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, in its first two years of work.

Over 60 enforcement actions were taken against traders by the State’s consumer watchdog last year.

The body responsible for enforcing consumer protection law in Ireland has opened its own investigation into the Volkswagen emissions scandal.

Hotels here will be able to offer cheaper room rates after the consumer watchdog forced Booking.com to change its policies.

The country’s consumer protection agency has declined imposing sanctions on Vodafone despite finding the global giant giant to be in breach of consumer law just weeks after issuing similar findings against four other telecoms.

Four of the country’s largest telecoms companies have been slapped on the wrist by the consumer watchdog for failing to inform customers of their right to cancel their contracts as well as misleading consumers, in certain instances.

The Irish Medical Organisation says key concerns it raised over free GP care for under sixes have been “comprehensively dealt” with by the HSE and the Department of Health.

Two convictions and 25 enforcement orders have been secured against a range of businesses for misleading and overcharging consumers in the last six months.

Irish consumers have experienced losses of around €500m in one year due to problems with goods and services.

Nearly half of consumers have had a problem after buying a product or service in the last year — resulting in losses of almost €500m.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission has ruled out an investigation into the level of competition in the banking system.

More criminal prosecutions of companies that break consumer protection laws are on the way, Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton has promised.

A row between the Irish Medical Organisation and the Competition Authority over whether the union could negotiate collective agreements has ended in the IMO giving an undertaking not to organise or recommend a collective withdrawal of services or boycott by members.

WE were promised a great cull of quangos, three years ago.

The Competition Authority has called for a major overhaul of lease management at Dublin Port as part of recommendations aimed at improving competitiveness in the Irish ports sector.

The powers and advocacy role of Ireland’s National Consumer Agency (NCA) must not be lost when the body is merged with the Competition Authority.

Health Minister James Reilly has urged more pharmacies to follow Boots Ireland’s lead and reduce the price of prescription medicines.

The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Batt O’Keeffe has appointed former regulator Isolde Goggin to the Competition Authority for the next six months.

THE chairwoman of the ComReg has decided not to seek renewal of her contract as ComReg commissioner.

Last week’s Smart Telecom crisis, in which 55,000 customers were disconnected without notice, has damaged the regulatory system for telecommunications, an Oireachtas committee heard today.

THE number of broadband subscribers grew by 15% in the second quarter of the year but Ireland still has one of the lowest penetration rates in Europe.

The cost of posting a letter will remain at 48 cent, but the price for mailing a parcel is set to more than double, it emerged today.

EIRCOM suffered a double dose of bad news yesterday as it lost out in the race for the country’s final third generation (3G) mobile phone licence and potential buyer Swisscom fuelled doubts over its proposed takeover.

Smart Mobile has been offered the country's fourth 3G licence by the Commission for Communications Regulation.

The Communications Regulator turned down An Post's request for a price increase for the basic stamp this afternoon.

The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, today re-affirmed his commitment to the introduction of postcodes as he announced the National Postcode Project Board has convened for the first time.

TELECOMS regulator ComReg has relieved eircom of the requirement to make CD versions of telephone directories available to users.