The Deputy will be aware that I published the general scheme of the legislation to establish the new National Consumer Agency in August this year. Since then my Department has been working in close co-operation with the Attorney General's office in relation to the legal drafting of the Bill. It is my intention that the Bill will be published before the end of the year and that it will be debated in the Oireachtas early in the new year. Accordingly I expect the Agency to be operating on a statutory basis during the first half of 2007.
Notwithstanding that the Agency is not yet established on a statutory basis, the NCA has been operating on an interim basis since June 2005. In that time the Agency has been very active in articulating the consumer's case and in promoting greater awareness of consumers' rights. A total of €3m has been allocated in my Department's vote to support the activities of the Agency in 2006 and the recruitment of 7 additional staff has been sanctioned to assist the Agency in this regard. I am satisfied that these additional resources will help to ensure that the Interim Agency can continue to forcefully advocate the consumer's cause until the statutory Agency assumes its full remit.
With regard to Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, the Bill will provide for the transfer of the Director's functions to the new Agency. The financial resources of the Director's office, which are provided from the vote of my Department, will also be redirected to the NCA. In terms of the existing ODCA personnel, it is envisaged that these staff, who are employees of my Department, will be assigned to the new Agency when it is established. The Bill will allow that, for a period of two years after the establishment of the NCA, ODCA staff can seek to transfer their employment to the new Agency if they so wish. Alternatively during that period staff can opt to return to the Civil Service. Additional staffing resources for the Agency, over and above those approved for the ODCA, will be the subject of discussions with the Minister for Finance.
