Proposals to scrap the National Consumer Agency (NCA) make no sense and should be dismissed out of hand, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said today.
The Government is proposing to abolish the National Consumer Agency (NCA) and send its functions back to the Department of Enterprise and Employment as part of plans to cut the number of State agencies amid the economic downturn.
The NCA has been asked for its views on the plan, and no decision will be taken before the consultation process is complete.
"This organisation was only established on a statutory basis just last year, and now the Government wants to get rid of it, before it has even published its first annual report," Mr Gilmore said.
"The NCA provides a range of important functions, from naming and shaming retailers who are caught breaking consumer law, to preventing car dealers 'clocking' second hand cars, to advocating on behalf of consumers when utilities and public bodies are proposing price-hikes.
"At a time when people have less money in their pockets, and when inflation continues to spiral upwards, the consumer needs protection now more than ever," Mr Gilmore said.
The Labour leader added: "We are also reading reports of kites being flown by the likes of Social and Family Affairs Minister, Mary Hanafin, who is suggesting that the Combat Poverty Agency too should be scrapped.
"The Government are taking a very cynical approach to these cuts, and it seems that where the axe is to fall, it is falling on organisations whose primary purpose is to advocate for the most vulnerable, and for those whose voices are not normally heard," Mr Gilmore said.
Labour Party spokeswoman on Social and Family Affairs Roisin Shortall added that any suggestion that the Combat Poverty Agency should be scrapped "would represent an attack on some of the most vulnerable members of society and should be resisted".
Describing the agency's work in developing the National Anti-Poverty Strategy as "one of the most significant developments to take place over the past 20 years," Ms Shorthall said the agency had an "excellent" track record in evidence-based policies and sound research.
