The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) is calling on the Government to “significantly” raise the Small Claims Court maximum threshold of €2,000 per claim, which has been unchanged for decades.

Grainne Griffin, director of the CCPC, says presently, items like a family holiday, a suite of furniture, or an expensive laptop or electrical item could be priced out of the Small Claims Court if something goes wrong.

She was speaking on foot of the recent publication of the CCPC’s 2025 Consumer Helpline Report, which revealed 42,791 consumers contacted the helpline from January to December last year to report a problem, get free advice on their consumer rights or ask a personal finance query.

For the fifth year in a row, faulty goods and services topped the list of concerns for Irish consumers, with an average spend of €6,292 on the product or service they had an issue with.

“It’s important that consumers know their rights if they buy something that turns out to be faulty. Regardless of whether you had a warranty or a guarantee, it’s up to the seller to resolve your issue; you shouldn’t have to go back to the manufacturer,” Grainne Griffin advises.

Tracking complaints

The biggest call driver in 2025 was issues with cars, with 5,827 contacts about vehicles. Another 2,838 consumers contacted the CCPC helpline about home building or improvements, an increase of 12% since 2024. The average spend here was a whopping €14,500.

The most complained about company last year was Ryanair, the CCPC report reveals, followed by Rathwood and electrical retailer, Currys. TV and broadband provider Sky and the eir Group to make up the top five.

Interestingly, in October 2025, the CCPC began following up with over 1,200 consumers who contacted the CCPC helpline to find out what happened next with their complaints. Six of the case studies are included in the CCPC report.

With stronger customer legislation passed in recent years, Grainne says rights have to be effective to be valuable. By tracking the progress of complaints, it also tests the effectiveness of the information services the CCPC provides.

“We are continuing to call back consumers and will be throughout 2026. I think it’s really important [to track complaints to the CCPC], because you need to get the full picture of what’s actually happening so you can understand how well consumer rights work in practice,” she comments.

Typically, consumers get in touch with the CCPC at different points on their journey, some as soon as they experience an issue to get a handle on their rights before they make a complaint. Others, she explains, contact them because they are “banging their head against the wall” trying to resolve an issue.

The good news, according to Grainne, is that 43% of the callers they contacted four weeks later had resolved their issue, with 38% of those receiving a refund from the trader.

One case study detailed in the report illustrates one of the huge range of complaints they receive. It concerns Ali*, who bought an expensive toy brick set in the January sales for his child’s birthday in April. When he opened it, he realised some of the parts were missing.

Ali went back to the shop, but they told him to contact the manufacturer. The CCPC advised Ali that under consumer law, the shop who sold him the toy is responsible for resolving any issues, not the manufacturer. The toy shop must repair or replace the goods, and where this is not possible, you can seek a refund. Afterwards, Ali called the trader, followed up with an email, and received a full refund.

Small claims court

What is “very discouraging, very disappointing and worrying”, though, is that for 41% of other calls the issue was ongoing when the CCPC checked in a month later, she tells Irish Country Living. “More than half of them had found it difficult, or 54%, to get in touch with the trader,” explains Grainne. “And in some cases, consumers had to contact businesses a huge number of times. For 15% it was 20-plus times,” she outlines, a scenario that is a substantial time investment by the person.

Another 10,297 consumers were referred to the Small Claims Court for redress, according to the 2025 Consumer Helpline Report, but the claim threshold there is only €2,000. This eliminates the huge number of complaints after buying a car or home improvements, where costs are much higher, points out the CCPC.

“When a consumer goes in to the Small Claims Court, they tell their story, they present their evidence, but even if they lose, both sides cover their own costs,” outlines Grainne.

“The Small Claims Court is a brilliant system, but we would like it to be available to a much wider range of consumers for much more significant purchases, like with a significantly higher threshold.”

Grainne Griffin is also calling for decisions or case studies to be published so that consumers can learn from the experiences of others.

“We would also like to see, in terms of the significant public interest cases that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission currently takes, that we would to be able to see financial penalties made available to us as a commission so that we can issue fines that are in proportion to the level of consumer harm,” continues Grainne.

Over the past year, the CCPC secured prosecutions against a number of household-name retailers in the district court for breaches of consumer law; however, Grainne says in each case the company had to give a €1,000 donation to charity. While there is reputational damage, the CCPC is requesting a “monetary deterrent” to encourage companies to invest in effective customer service.

See ccpc.ie; or phone 01 402 5555 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm) or email: ask@ccpc.ie.