Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 July 2014
187. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Finance further to Parliamentary Question No. 64 of 2 July 2014, his plans to investigate whether Irish consumers and businesses are being overcharged for foreign exchange services, in view of the two major investigations ongoing in the United States; and if such investigations lie outside his remit; his views that the remit should be changed. [31069/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have no plans to carry out an investigation to ascertain if consumers and business are being overcharged for foreign exchange services.
All regulated financial institutions must comply with all the Codes of Conduct issued by the Central Bank, including the Consumer Protection Code. Consequently, any firm to which such codes apply must, as a matter of law, comply with the rules contained in the codes. Failure to comply may result in the imposition of an administrative sanction by the Central Bank.
The Central Bank monitors compliance with consumer protection requirements through its:
- on-going engagement with firms;
- reviews and research;
- themed inspections;
- mystery shopping; and
- advertising monitoring.
I understand that the most recent mystery shop of foreign exchange was conducted at end-2008 and details are available on the Central Bank website. The Central Bank published its planned series of themed reviews and inspections for 2014 on 25 February 2014. It has no plans to conduct a review of foreign exchange this year, but if the Deputy has any specific concerns about overcharging by any entity regulated by the Central Bank, he should bring these to the attention of the Central Bank.
