Vol. 418 No. 8
7 Mr. Hogan asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will be seeking additional staff for the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade arising from the completion of the Internal Market; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The control of public service costs continues to be a key factor in this Government's economic strategy. As a result, all Government Departments are subject to restrictions on the recruitment of staff and the filling of vacancies. In such a situation, there is a requirement on all managers throughout the public service, including the Director of Consumer Affairs, to review existing work practices and set priorities in order to maximise the use of available resources.
Against this requirement, I am satisfied that the staffing resources within the office of Consumer Affairs are adequate to deal with the existing workload and that anticipated to result from the completion of the Internal Market.
I cannot accept the Minister's reply that there is adequate staff in the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, especially in view of the fact that so many EC directives on general legislation on the consumer area are not enforced in the way they should be. It is because of the inadequate level of staff that there are inadequate levels of enforcement in respect of consumer legislation.
With the Customs and Excise staff being redeployed as a result of the completion of the Internal Market, will the Minister not agree that he is getting an unique opportunity to allocate some of that surplus staff to the office of the Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade? In view of the establishment of the small claims court and the proposal to regionalise this court and the office of consumer affairs, another opportunity is provided for the Minister to redeploy staff to ensure a regionalised system of consumer protection.
I do not accept that staffing levels in the office are inadequate. There has been a significant increase in the numbers of people employed there over the past two years. It must be one of the very few offices in the public service where there has been an increase of such magnitude. As I mentioned in the House before on this point which is raised at virtually every Question Time I reply to, it is almost the cause of some embarrassment to me that there is such a large increase in this office when there has been no increase or a diminution in numbers in other parts of my Department and other Departments where work of at least equal importance to this is being undertaken.
So far as the people who are becoming available for redeployment from the Customs and Excise Service are concerned, obviously my Department would welcome the allocation of some of those people provided we had the means to pay for them, but we are not in a position to pay for them out of the existing salaries subhead. If some means could be agreed with the Department of Finance whereby that arrangement could be made, I would welcome the acquisition of some of those officials in my Department.
A brief question from Deputy Hogan.
If additional staff are allocated by the Government to the Minister for Industry and Commerce, will he give an undertaking to sympathetically consider the suggestion that some of these officers be allocated to the Office of Director of Consumer Affairs and Fair Trade with a view to developing a regional office network to give the public greater access to information on consumer protection?
That is one of the areas to which I would be prepared to give consideration in the happy event postulated by the Deputy of my Department being offered additional staff. Obviously, I could not make any decision on the matter until such a happy event were to take place.
