I propose to take Questions Nos. 82 to 84, inclusive, together.
ECC Ireland is a company limited by guarantee without a share capital. It is a non-profit organisation and registered as a charity with the Charities Regulatory Authority.
Companies limited by guarantee (CLG) operate under Part 18 of the Companies Act 2014. Sections 1194-1198 of the Act apply in relation to the appointment of Directors to the Board. Appointments to the Board are a matter for ECC Ireland and I, as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, have no direct function in relation to such appointments. Details of the current and former members of the Board of ECC Ireland are a matter of public record and can be accessed by contacting the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
A member of staff of my Department sits on the Board of ECC Ireland. He was appointed on 27 November 2013.
ECC Ireland is a member of the European Consumer Centre Network (ECC-Net) which provides consumers across Europe advice on their rights when shopping in another EU Member State. The European Consumer Centre Network (ECC-Net) is an EU-wide network co-funded by the European Commission and the Member States. National funding for ECC Ireland is channelled via the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) from the allocation received by CCPC from my Department each year. Details of the funding provided to ECC Ireland for the years 2013 – 2017 are set out in Table 1.
Since November 2015, ECC Ireland is designated under S.I. No. 500/2015 - European Union (Online Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes) Regulations 2015 as the ODR contact point in the State for the purposes of Article 7 of the Regulation (EU) No. 524/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes. ECC Ireland is funded directly by my Department for carrying out the ODR contact point function. Details of the funding provided for the years 2016 and 2017 are set out in Table 2.
Table 1: Funding provided to ECC Ireland by the CCPC
Year
|
€
|
2013
|
214,840
|
2014
|
214,840
|
2015
|
214,840
|
2016
|
214,840
|
2017 – to date
|
155,189
|
2017 (budget full year)
|
214,840
|
Table 2: Funding provided to ECC Ireland for the ODR Contact Point function
2016
|
€45,000
|
2017 – to date
|
€32,437
|
2017 (budget full year)
|
€47,000
|