Nora Owen
Question:286 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the amount of the EC budget allocated to consumer protection that has been allocated to Ireland; and the projects on which this has been spent.
Written Answers. - Consumer Protection.
The European Commission has a line in its budget for encouraging the development of consumer protection including assistance to independent consumer movements in member states. There is no fixed allocation of funds to individual members states — decisions on funding rest with the Commission. Organisations apply for grants and project funding to the Consumer Policy Section of the Commission and these applications are judged on their merits.
The Consumers' Association of Ireland has received Commission funding in recent years for use in such areas as research and development, consumer legal services, product testing and consumer surveys. A conference entitled "Justice for the Consumer" in November 1993, organised by the Department and the Consumers' Association of Ireland, was also funded.
Amounts received by the Association from the Commission in recent years are as follows: 1991, £197,036; 1992, £238,470; 1993, £335,450.
In addition, funding will be received in 1994 by the Director of Consumer Affairs for a consumer education project. A total of £45,000 has been contracted for this programme, £20,000 of which has already been received. A further £83,000 is being granted jointly to the Director and the Consumers' Association of Ireland for the production of consumer information leaflets.