Consumer watchdog destroyed 900,000 face masks amid tighter crackdown on unsafe products

CCPC Chair Jeremy Godfrey said: 'Our coordinated activities with our EU and EEA counterparts, ensured that over 900,000 non-compliant face masks were destroyed before they could reach the Irish market.' Picture: Pexels

The country's consumer watchdog stopped more than 900,000 non-compliant face masks from reaching the Irish market last year, as it vowed to tighten enforcement and compliance on defective and unsafe products.

The annual report for 2021 from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) also outlined how it received its first contacts to its anonymous whistleblowing system for cartels.

The report showed 34 enforcement actions were brought for breaches of consumer protection law, 38 products sent to laboratories for product safety testing, and 136 product safety notifications were investigated.

Just over 37,000 consumers contacted the CCPC helpline, and in the report the body said it would "use our powers to deliver effective enforcement and compliance outcomes".

Writing in the report, CCPC chair Jeremy Godfrey said: "Our use of technology continued to complement the enforcement activities of the CCPC, and we conducted a number of online sweeps during the year. Our coordinated activities with our EU and EEA counterparts, ensured that over 900,000 non-compliant face masks were destroyed before they could reach the Irish market."

The report also shows a focus on other areas, including identifying potential cartels in the Irish economy. 

Cartels are when businesses work together to restrict competition and maintain prices at a high level, and according to the report: "We opened two cartel investigations and two gun-jumping investigations. 

"The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) directed charges on indictment to be laid against 13 suspects in a CCPC investigation into suspected bid-rigging of public transport tenders. We also introduced an anonymous whistleblowing system for cartels."

Motor insurance

The CCPC had already secured legally, binding commitments to address alleged anti-competitive price-signalling practices in the private motor insurance sector, having initially launched an investigation in 2016, and separately, unannounced inspections of used car sales dealers with gardaí resulted in a warning being issued to car dealers to provide complete and correct information to consumers.

Last year, the CCPC also carried out 115 proactive consumer protection compliance inspections. Elsewhere, product safety investigations resulted in the withdrawal of nine products and the recall of three products from the Irish market.

According to the report, other areas addressed last year included 'greenwashing' and in November, two properties in Co Donegal were searched as part of an investigation into an alleged pyramid promotional scheme by a multi-level marketing company in the health and wellness sector.

"The CCPC and Food Safety Authority of Ireland were supported by members of An Garda Síochána and the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau in carrying out the searches," it said. "As 2021 ended, this investigation was ongoing."

When it came to helpline contacts, the highest percentage related to vehicles and transport, followed by telecommunications, and the main reason for a consumer query was over faulty goods and services.