Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 December 2025
234. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance his views on whether ensuring competition in the Irish financial services market should form part of the remit of the Central Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [68586/25]
View answerThe issue of a competition mandate has been raised in a number of quarters of late, in particular in a recent paper from the Banking and Payments Federation (BPFI). I am aware of a specific secondary competition mandate for financial sector regulators in the UK.
As the Deputy will be aware, primary responsibility for competition policy rests with the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Furthermore, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is the statutory body responsible for promoting compliance with, and enforcing, competition and consumer protection law in Ireland.
Competition was one area of focus under the Retail Banking Review and the Retail Banking Review Report, published in November 2022, reflected a number of recommendations related to competition.
It recommended that the Central Bank and CCPC build on existing arrangements and establish closer coordination to share perspectives, information and experience on the orderly functioning of markets, consumer protection and competition in the retail banking sector.
Following this, on 24 March 2025 the CCPC entered into a revised cooperation agreement (www.ccpc.ie/business/about/co-operation/co-operation-agreement-between-the-competition-and-consumer-protection-commission-and-the-central-bank-of-ireland/) under section 19 of the 2014 Act with the Central Bank. This agreement provides for increased co-operation between the CCPC and Central Bank in relation to their respective functions.
A recommendation of the Retail Banking Review was implemented in the Access to Cash Infrastructure Act 2025. This requires the Central Bank to carry out and publish cost-benefit analyses of business standards it proposes to prescribe, as well as for regulations it proposes to make, in relation to financial service providers. Any cost benefit analysis carried out will have to consider the impact of any standards or regulations on consumers and their impact on fair competition.
I would point out that the mandate of the Central Bank of Ireland is dictated by the statute of the European System of Central Banks, by the Supervisory EU Legal Acts and by the Central Bank Acts.
It has primary responsibility for the regulation and supervision of financial institutions in terms of consumer protection and prudential requirements and for ensuring ongoing compliance with applicable statutory obligations.
It should not be underestimated how critical a well-functioning regulatory and supervisory system is to the operation of a competitive financial services market. Such a regulatory framework gives certainty and clarity to existing and potential new entrants to different financial markets.
Despite not having a specific competition mandate the Central Bank remains open and engaged with industry. This engagement helps the Bank to understand wider financial services industry perspectives. The Bank continues to support innovation across the regulated financial services sector. Its work on the Regulatory Sandbox is a case in point.
At a European level, the drive to simplify regulation and reduce administrative burdens to increase competitiveness has been incorporated into many different workstreams and these processes can assist in improving the wider competitiveness of the sector.
