The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment launched a public consultation in December 2025 seeking views on a range of proposed reforms to Ireland’s consumer protection and competition enforcement framework. The consultation forms part of the Government’s preparatory work toward the development of a proposed Consumer Protection, Competition and Enforcement Bill 2026 (the “Proposed Bill”), which remains at a pre-legislative stage. Submissions from individuals, consumer organisations, businesses and other stakeholders are intended to inform the scope, policy direction and eventual drafting of the legislation.

The proposed reforms aim to align Irish domestic law with evolving European Union standards. As EU consumer and competition law continues to develop, Ireland’s legal framework must remain compatible with cross-border market practices and protections. The Proposed Bill is intended to ensure that Ireland’s consumer protection and competition law framework keeps pace with evolving markets and digital products while providing more effective and proportionate enforcement mechanisms. This alignment extends to digital market contexts and modern commercial realities, ensuring that Irish law reflects best practices seen across many other EU Member States. 

1. Objective of the Proposed Bill

The primary objective of the Proposed Bill, as outlined in the consultation, is to enhance protections for consumers and promote fair competition in Irish markets. This objective underpins the consultation and anticipated legislative development process, reflecting government commitments in the Programme for Government and the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity.

Key policy goals include:

• reinforcing consumer rights against unfair and prohibited commercial practices;
• equipping enforcement authorities with more effective and proportionate tools; and
• closing legislative gaps that have emerged as a result of digitalisation and new market dynamics.

2. Scope of Application

The Proposed Bill is intended to apply across sectors of the Irish economy where consumers engage with traders for goods and services. This would include traditional in-store transactions and rapidly evolving digital commerce environments.

The proposed reforms aim to strengthen consumer protection provisions, ensuring that consumers can make informed choices and access redress, and to enhance competition enforcement powers, ensuring that markets remain transparent and competitive.

3. Expansion Beyond Existing Framework

Under current Irish law, enforcement of consumer protection legislation frequently takes place through summary prosecutions before the District Court, together with applications for enforcement orders and other court-based remedies. The Consumer Rights Act 2022 and the Consumer Protection Act 2007 provide the principal statutory framework governing consumer rights and enforcement mechanisms.

While these existing mechanisms allow for regulatory intervention, public consultation groups and enforcement bodies have identified areas where the legal framework could be more robust, particularly in directly addressing systemic breaches and anti-competitive behaviour.

The consultation therefore considers measures under which the Proposed Bill would seek to expand administrative enforcement tools available to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (“CCPC”). These measures include the possible introduction of administrative financial sanctions and binding regulatory decisions, operating alongside existing judicial remedies such as compliance orders and criminal prosecution.

If developed and enacted substantially in line with the consultation proposals, this enhanced administrative enforcement model would represent a shift toward a more regulator-led approach to consumer law enforcement, broadly comparable to enforcement structures operating in a number of other EU Member States.

4. Core Proposals Under Consideration

The public consultation sets out several major reform areas for potential inclusion in the Proposed Bill.

These include:

Administrative Financial Sanctions

While the CCPC already has the authority to impose administrative fines in competition law matters under the 2022 amendment framework and may issue certain limited fixed-payment notices in specific consumer law contexts (primarily in relation to pricing practices), those consumer facing powers are narrow in scope and modest in financial scale.

It is now proposed that the CCPC would be able to impose more substantial administrative fines for a broader range of consumer law breaches without having to pursue court-based enforcement as frequently. This would represent a significant expansion of its enforcement powers in the consumer protection context, moving beyond limited fixed penalties towards a more developed system of administrative sanctioning.

Bid Rigging Detection Powers

The Proposed Bill may grant the CCPC the authority to screen public procurement data to detect patterns of collusion or bid rigging. This proposal follows recommendations from the Hamilton Review Group on preventing economic crime and is aimed at safeguarding public procurement integrity and competitive tendering processes.

Strengthening Consumer Rights and Remedies

The consultation also seeks views on potential updates to the Consumer Rights Act 2022 to clarify remedies for prohibited practices. Examples outlined for consideration include:

• clearer rules on how price reductions are calculated and displayed;
• improved contract cancellation rights; and
• ensuring consumer statutory rights are enforceable and transparent across transaction types.

The proposed updates are intended to reduce ambiguity in consumer law and ensure that consumers can readily understand and exercise their rights in modern markets.

5. Implementation and Next Steps

Following the consultation period, the Government is expected to publish the Proposed Bill in draft form. This will provide further opportunities for scrutiny.

Organisations should take this opportunity to proactively evaluate their current practices in relation to the proposed legislation and take steps to prepare for compliance with more rigorous obligations.

Conclusion

If enacted in line with the consultation proposals, the Consumer Protection, Competition and Enforcement Bill 2026 would represent a significant step in modernising the existing legal framework for consumer rights and fair competition. By proposing substantive administrative sanctions, enhanced investigative powers, and clearer consumer rights, the Government aims to create a more accessible, effective and responsive legal environment.

If you would like to discuss how the proposed Consumer Protection, Competition and Enforcement Bill 2026 may impact your organisation, please contact Partner, Cian Clinch or Solicitor, Emma White, who would be happy to advise on the potential implications and compliance considerations.