Consumers of Ireland – come together for the cause!
As an Association member, council member, and a director of the Consumer Association of Ireland, I’ll be there. As will all the other directors and council members of the Association, including the Chairman James Doorley, the vice-Chairman Michael Kilcoyne and Chief Executive Dermott Jewell. You’ll get to hear speeches from Messrs. Doorley & Jewell letting you know about the activities and successes of the Association over the past 12 months.
If you are a paid up member, come along and ask not what you can do for your Association, but ask what your Association did for you during 2008 with your €91 membership and the approximate €60,000 annual grant received from the Department of Enterprise Trade, and Employment (€63,000 in 2004 for example)?
Come along and find out if you are getting value for money from your Consumer Association? As well as producing your 12 monthly editions of the Consumer Choice magazine, did you know that the Consumer Association of Ireland represents its members interests on upwards of 25 different other organisations? From the Financial Regulator to ComReg, from the Taxi Regulator to An Bord Bia, the Consumer Association of Ireland is attending meetings, fighting the good fight, on your behalf. Come along to the AGM and ask about the value of this representation?
Since I joined the Association, the turnout at these AGMs has been very low – no more than 30 people attended last year for example. Let’s change things this year – if you’re a member, please try to come along. If you know someone who is a member, please forward them this link and ask them to go along. It would be great to see as many members as possible there this year.
It’s your Association. You’re paying for it to exist – through your membership and your taxes. Take an interest in what’s going on and come along and get involved. Make sure you’re getting value for your money from your Consumer Association.
5 Comments
You’re out of date. CAI put the price up!!!!
it was €91, now it’s €96 pa.
can somebody tell me if Consumers Association is represented on the Financial Regulator Board.
Would seem not because Regulator has not regulated our banks The man in the street knew that you could get loans regardless of ability to pay.
We the consumer will pay for this debacle unless we are properly represented.
@Anonymous – Thanks for your comment, and yes, you’re correct, the new yearly membership of the Consumer Association of Ireland is now €96. I am on the Council and Board that agreed to this change to cover increasing costs.
My comments in the post above were directed at the €91 that people paid for 2008 and what value for money they may have received for that investment. Hopefully, for €96 per year in 2009, there’ll be even more in it for CAI members.
@Lisa – James Doorley, the current Chairman, represents the Association of Ireland on the Consumer Panel of the Financial Regulator (see link in post above).
Also in the financial services arena, the CAI is represented by its Chief Executive Dermot Jewell on the Financial Services Ombudsman Council (here – http://www.financialombudsman.ie/about-us/council.asp) as well as on the board of the Investor Compensation Scheme (again by Mr. Jewell) – something which I suppose is something that might potentially become of interest in these interesting times – http://www.investorcompensation.ie/board.php.
I think the CAI sub went up to €96 in 2007. Thats €8 per month for the magazine. Eddie Hobbs’ magazine costs €3.95 but I wish he wouldn’t put his picture on nearly every page as well as the front cover.
Is the CAI really a membership organisation? Last time I hit their website, it was all about ‘buy the magazine’ and little or nothing about joining the organisation.