The "Consumer Association" ? What Gives ?

Fulton Crown

Just heard that dapper little geezer Dermot Jewell on the radio...apparently a website selling school books hasnt delivered and is proving difficult to contact.

Jewell himself said he tried to contact but to no avail.

Now if the head of the consumer association cannot make contact regarding a serious consumer issue it begs the question what powers does this guy have ?

I have heard him a few times on Newstalk giving reasonable advice but rarely agreeing to take any action himself.

Is he on a cosy little number here...with a corrosponding wedge and loads of little piggies slurping at the trough ?

How big is this association and who funds it.....are there questions to be answered ?

My name is URL

It's self funded.

Biggins

http://www.thejournal.ie/schoolbooks-ie-delay-caused-by-technical-issue-at-warehouse-563785-Aug2012/

As I stated in their comment section:

As soon As I got my book list and had the money, I ordered from them for three of my kids.
I have to say, they were quick enough to respond and get my stuff out.
Sorry to hear they are having difficulties.

I know its hard and sometimes the money is not immediately there for parents to buy as soon as possible but those that can, really should do so – if only so that those catching up with the rest stand a good chance of eventually getting their’s also when its monetary possible.

---

The Consumer Association as such in Ireland has very little 'teeth'.
Their powers to enforce ruling/opinions has very little sway.
It not their fault to some extent - they have been crying out for more power for years.
Politicians have been ignoring those calls.

woodoo

Who profits from the sale of school books in Ireland. They seem to change them very often.

ejmaztec

woodoo wrote: »

Who profits from the sale of school books in Ireland. They seem to change them very often.

That's so the publishers will neve have to say that they've folens on hard times.

Ghandee

E-books can down be downloaded for a matter of cents these days.

Why haven't schools moved in this direction by now?

That is all.

My name is URL

Ghandee wrote: »

E-books can down be downloaded for a matter of cents these days.

Why haven't schools moved in this direction by now?

That is all.

Some countries are in the process of replacing school books with iPads/tablets

Ireland, as usual, will probably cop on that it's a good idea 25 years from now.

SeaFields

A fancy ipad would have lasted all but 5 minutes in my school before some tool decided to use it as a frisbee or something.

woodoo

My name is URL wrote: »

Some countries are in the process of replacing school books with iPads/tablets

Ireland, as usual, will probably cop on that it's a good idea 25 years from now.

God knows what shady politician has signed a deal with someone that involves selling loads of school books to Irish people year in year out.

Biggins

My name is URL wrote: »

Some countries are in the process of replacing school books with iPads/tablets

Ireland, as usual, will probably cop on that it's a good idea 25 years from now.

Just as soon as politicians don't cave to any possible lobbying from paper book companies that so far, have been raking it in - and make the legal changes necessary in the Department of Education, to allow it to happen?

Biggins

woodoo wrote: »

God knows what shady politician has signed a deal with someone that involves selling loads of school books to Irish people year in year out.

An Irish politician might be taking a few quiet payments/perks?
Say its not so! :eek:

mike65

Quite why the teaching profession allows itself to be complicit in this charade I don't know but someone here is bound to.

Ghandee

Cartel between publishers and someone else.......

SocSocPol

Fulton Crown wrote: »

Just heard that dapper little geezer Dermot Jewell on the radio...apparently a website selling school books hasnt delivered and is proving difficult to contact.

Jewell himself said he tried to contact but to no avail.

Now if the head of the consumer association cannot make contact regarding a serious consumer issue it begs the question what powers does this guy have ?

I have heard him a few times on Newstalk giving reasonable advice but rarely agreeing to take any action himself.

Is he on a cosy little number here...with a corrosponding wedge and loads of little piggies slurping at the trough ?

How big is this association and who funds it.....are there questions to be answered ?

If there are questions to be answered you could have answered them yourself using google!
Everything you need to know about the CAI can be found on their website:
http://thecai.ie/
By way of introduction let me state that the Consumers’ Association is Ireland’s independent, self-funded and non-profit organisation, founded in 1966.
Its members are ordinary consumers from areas spread right across the country who see the need for and who support such an organisation.

Christini

I would take any notice of that fella from what I've read....

CAI chief ‘inflated’ online statistics

Dermott Jewell ‘exaggerated’ the number of complaints the consumer body received about Ulster Bank

Mark Tighe Published: 29 July 2012

DERMOTT JEWELL, the chief executive of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland (CAI), has greatly exaggerated the number of complaints his organisation received about the Ulster Bank systems failure, according to sources within the CAI.

The CAI, a registered charity, is struggling to survive and has laid off most of its staff.

During an interview with Morning Ireland on RTE Radio on July 3, Jewell claimed the CAI had received more than 3,000 online complaints from Ulster Bank customers.

However, sources within the CAI told The Sunday Times the organisation would not normally get that number of complaints in total in a year. The sources said in the first three weeks of July, the CAI received a total of 108 online complaints and not all of them were related to Ulster Bank.

In his radio interview, Jewell was asked whether the CAI’s complaints were received via email given that it had only one operational phone. He said they had been received “online”. The CAI has an online form on its website where complaints can be made.

“Our online complaints . . . started at hundreds and by close of business yesterday they would just be over 3,000 and that’s quite a significant amount of contributions from consumers who are worried about their bank account,” Jewell said.

Following the programme, the figure of 3,000 complaints cited by Jewell was reported by RTE and other media in coverage of the Ulster Bank story. In the following day’s Irish Independent, Jewell was quoted saying the CAI had received 3,200 complaints about Ulster Bank.

Verona Hanlon, the manager of consumer protection at the Central Bank of Ireland, emailed Jewell after his Morning Ireland interview seeking further information on the number and type of complaints received.

The National Consumer Agency (NCA), a statutory body set up to handle consumer issues, received a total of 99 complaints about the Ulster Bank problem between June 20 and July 26.

While the CAI has one part-time employee working with Jewell, the NCA has eight manning a helpline. The agency deals with an average of 1,074 calls and 111 emails each week.

On July 7, Bill Prasifka, the Financial Services Ombudsman, said he had received a “handful” of complaints about Ulster Bank.

When The Sunday Times asked Jewell about his claim that the CAI received more than 3,000 complaints, he issued a statement explaining this figure included “estimates” that were “canvassed” from media and industry sources.

Jewell said he and the CAI's chairman had a large network of contacts, which included consumers, representative bodies, reliable media and industry sources.

He said the CAI had canvassed them and relayed the areas of complaints, the level and estimates of the number of contacts received. The CAI undertook to highlight and act upon this information, he said. He denied he overstated the level of complaints received.

Jewell has blamed a lack of state funding for the CAI’s problems. Last month, he accused Richard Bruton, the minister for jobs, enterprise and innovation, of “completely and inconsiderately” ignoring the CAI.

The department’s records show, however, that between 2007 and 2010 the CAI received €230,000 from the state. It said no application for funding had been received from the CAI in 2011 or this year.

Last week, it was reported the CAI had made provision for an €80,000 lump sum pension payment for Jewell. However, Michael Kilcoyne, the CAI chairman, said the sum had never been paid.

Jewell declined to answer any questions on salary or pension payments from the CAI.

Christini

The Consumers Association of Ireland (CAI) has authorised an €80,000 pension top-up for its chief executive, Dermott Jewell, The Sunday Business Post has learned.

Published 22/7/2012

Details of the top-up have emerged as the cash-strapped association holds talks with a number of creditors over debts it has amassed, while also trying to secure a bailout from the taxpayer.

Accounts filed in the Companies Office by the CAI show the organisation's revenue fell to €417,000 in the year to May 2011, down from €703,000 in 2008. It had a deficit of €129,000 by the end of last year. The organisation now has just two employees, including Jewell, down from eight in 2008.
The CAI blamed its financial difficulties on a fall in income from its magazine, Consumer Choice, as well as a failure to secure funding from the Department of Enterprise.

The CAI has traditionally been funded through its own memberships - consumers became members by subscribing to Consumer Choice. The 2011 accounts show that the magazine, which the association recently stopped printing, generated an income of €362,000 last year, some €150,000 more than the €208,000 it cost to produce.

"In those accounts, there was a new requirement to value the premises. It impacted on it, as most of our resources go into production of the magazine," said Jewell when contacted last week.

The accounts also show a sharp rise in pension payments. Pension costs climbed from €38,000 in 2010 to €99,000 in 2011.

Jewell said that the defined benefit pension scheme ran into financial difficulty and that the money was used to bolster the scheme for its members.

"There was a deficit that the association tried to build up. We tried to fill the hole," he said.

The accounts state that some €80,000 in relation to compensation to staff members was accrued. There was just one active member of the scheme and three deferred members.

The CAI's trustees agreed that a lump sum of €80,000 should be paid to compensate Jewell for a proportion of his loss as a result of the pension fund deficit. When contacted last week, Jewell refused to discuss details of his pension top-up. He also declined to disclose his own salary, but said it was below €100,000 at present.

"I am not going to - and never have - declared my salary. It is private and personal. It is nobody's business," he said.

In the four years to 2011, the CAI's accounts show that some €100,000 was claimed on travel and meeting expenses. The CAI said the expenses were for "meetings throughout the year and also staff related, marketing related and European travel to commission meetings, working group and general assemblies of our sister organisations".

The CAI is overseen by a council of ten, which is chaired by Michael Kilcoyne.
The council hit the headlines in 2008 when three board members - Diarmuid MacShane, Mel Gannon and Enid O'Dowd - resigned over concerns about future policy, as well as their inability to access information on the running of the organisation.

"We were asking questions around payments, remuneration and the money people were getting from other board memberships, but our questions weren't being answered. Board members were having to consider Freedom of Information requests to access information. There was a huge level of secrecy with regard to what was going on," said one of the board members, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Since January 2009, CAI council members have contributed 50 per cent of fees received from directorships and representations held on behalf of the association to the CAI.

The 2011 accounts state that the fees Jewell receives in respect of his representation of the CAI on boards are lodged to the CAI.
Jewell is also chair of the board of the Financial Services Ombudsman, and receives €21,600 per year for that position. He was appointed to the post in 2008.

He did not respond to questions from this newspaper relating to the fees he received for this board representation.

In recent weeks, the CAI met jobs minister Richard Bruton in an effort to obtain a cash injection from the taxpayer.

Michael Kilcoyne, who also serves as a member of Mayo County Council, said he was optimistic that the minister would approve a rescue plan. He said the CAI was in talks with companies it owed money to with a view to "putting payment plans in place".

Fulton Crown

Some excellent and detailed posts ...thank you peeps.

The Crown always felt that there was sommat amiss with this organisation (sic0.

Good to see that my suspicions have been fleshed out by concerned posters...

Padkir

My name is URL wrote: »

Some countries are in the process of replacing school books with iPads/tablets

Ireland, as usual, will probably cop on that it's a good idea 25 years from now.

Delighted to say my own old school were the pioneers of this (or very close to pioneers anyway! )

http://mayotoday.ie/index.php/browse-mayo-news-by-category/digital-life/item/2935-st-colmans-claremorris-to-replace-school-books-with-ipad.html