Consumer Advisory Group
On 2 February 2011, the Central Bank appointed five members to its Consumer Advisory Group. The role of the Consumer Advisory Group is to advise the Central Bank on its performance in relation to protecting consumers of financial services.
Appointments to the Consumer Advisory Group are for a three-year period and members serve on a voluntary basis.
The members of the Consumer Advisory Group are:
Michael Culloty
Michael Culloty holds a senior position in the Money Advice & Budgetary Service (MABS) as National Social Policy and Communications Officer and is also the media spokesperson for MABS. He has wide experience and knowledge on consumer’s interactions with lenders.
Dermott Jewell
Dermott Jewell is CEO of the Consumers Association of Ireland. He is Chairperson of the Financial Services Ombudsman Council and Chairperson/Director of the Irish European Consumer Centre (ECC).
Elaine Kempson
Elaine Kempson is currently an independent consultant based in the UK. She is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Bristol where she was formerly Director of Personal Finance Research Centre. She has almost 30 years of experience in research in consumer behaviour and has worked on a number of studies for regulatory and international bodies, including World Bank, OECD and the UK Financial Services Authority. She is also a non-executive director of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service.
Bill Knight
Bill Knight is currently an independent consultant based in Canada. He was formerly the Commissioner of the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. He established and is currently the Chair of the International Forum for Consumer Regulators. He also has extensive experience in the credit union sector in Canada.
Dr Anthony Walsh
Dr Anthony Walsh is Chief Executive of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland. Previously he spent nearly 20 years at Dublin City University (DCU), where he was Professor of Accounting and Dean of the Business School. He is a member of the Qualified Financial Advisor Board and a Director of the Irish Universities’ Quality Board.
Summary of the meetings to date:
08 February 2011
Topics discussed were the Review of the Consumer Protection Code and the Review of the Operation of Section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act.
14 April 2011
Topics discussed were the Review of the Consumer Protection Code, Review of the Operation of Section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act, Tracker Mortgages and restrictions on the operation of bank accounts.
26 July 2011
Topics discussed were on the Review of the Consumer Protection Code, Review of the SME Code, Mortgage Arrears, Market Intelligence and the long term strategy for the Consumer Protection Directorate.
08 September 2011
Participants joined in a workshop to develop the Consumer Protection Directorate Strategy for 2012 - 2014.
10 November 2011
Topics discussed were the Mortgage Arrears Resolution Strategy, Bankruptcy Legislation and Resolution and the Roll-out Process and Implementation Programme for the Consumer Protection Code.
Financial Services Consultative Panels
The Central Bank Reform Act 2010 replaced the Financial Services Consultative Consumer Panel and the Financial Services Consultative Industry Panel with the new advisory arrangements set out above. You can still access information in relation to the Consultative Panels and view their work, which has now been archived, here.