gabriel makhlouf : remarks - launch of the consumer protection discussion paper remarks by mr gabriel makhlouf, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the launch of the consumer protection discussion paper, dublin, 3 october 2022. * * * good morning everyone, i am delighted that you have been able to join us here in north wall quay this morning, for the launch of our consumer protection discussion paper. the publication of this paper marks the first step in what we hope will be an open conversation on important consumer protection issues. we want to take the time to listen to you so that we understand your perspectives in order to inform our consumer protection work. consumer protection is at the heart of everything the central bank does. our guiding principle, from our founding legislation, is that our " constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people as a whole. " we harness our wide - ranging economic, financial stability and regulatory expertise to protect consumers'interests. i will hand you over to deputy governor derville rowland shortly who will speak about the consumer protection framework, the themes in the paper and the role our planned engagement will play in the evolution of the framework. but first let me explain why we are publishing this paper today. as you all know, financial services are undergoing major change and we are already in a period of transition driven by innovation and changes in consumer preferences. increasingly people are accessing their financial services digitally, while some continue to favour a traditional means of access. through this period of transition, the central bank aims to continue to protect consumers'interests. we want to better understand, anticipate and be forward - looking and responsive to the new environment and the far - reaching changes taking place in financial services. in our view, consumers'interests are best protected through having effectivelyfunctioning financial services markets made up of sustainable, resilient and well - run consumer - focused firms who provide availability and choice. positive consumer outcomes depend on firms acting in their customers'best interests, consumers being empowered to make informed decisions, and rules and regulations that provide users of financial services with a proportionate level of protection. the consumer protection code sets out the conditions in which this objective is fulfilled by firms. the code has served consumers well. it has established a set of rules and 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches expectations for how firms should treat their customers and has allowed us to intervene to protect consumers. but with financial services evolving rapidly, the code must also

. as always, you will be hearing my personal views. i am not speaking for the federal reserve system or the fomc. my colleagues may not agree with what i have to say. current state of economy and outlook so let ’ s start with the current economic situation. i ’ ll do a short - form version of this focused on three key elements of economic performance – growth, employment, and inflation. after negative growth ( contraction ) in the first quarter of 2014 that was largely explained by bad weather, the economy experienced strong and accelerating growth through the third quarter. growth in the fourth quarter is likely to be slower than the very strong third quarter. we are still working with very preliminary measures of fourth - quarter performance. at the atlanta fed, we expect the fourth - quarter gross domestic product ( gdp ) growth rate to come in bis central bankers ’ speeches around 3 percent ( annualized ). that would produce an annual rate of growth in the second half around 4 percent. this is strong growth, and we believe there is solid momentum carrying over into 2015. notwithstanding the equity market volatility of last week, we ’ re starting the year on an optimistic note in terms of real economic activity. growth of consumer spending appeared to accelerate toward the close of 2014. personal consumption expenditures rose at an annual rate of 9. 2 percent in november, raising the year - over - year rate to 2. 8 percent growth. roughly half of the strong november growth of consumption was auto purchases, but other categories of spending accelerated as well. people seem to be more prepared to open their pocketbooks. the university of michigan consumer sentiment index for december reached its highest reading since january 2007. another reason for optimism is that 2014 was a year of significantly improved employment conditions. payrolls increased by almost 3 million, the strongest reading since 2000, and the gains were spread across a wide range of industries. the headline unemployment rate fell by more than a percent over the year. the long - term unemployment rate, defined as 27 weeks or more, also declined meaningfully. also, we saw the smallest decline in five years in the participation in the labor market of working - age people. we believe this indicates increasing confidence in labor market prospects. over the last year as the labor market has improved, we ’ ve paid special attention to trends in wages. growing wages would validate tightening employment conditions and would also support growth of consumer activity and prices. both are highly desirable in current circumstances. the recent evidence on wages