Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 February 2024
178. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment given some recent media highlighting of various issues, if he can make a statement in relation to a company website (details supplied) which acts as an agent for processing tax returns on behalf of individuals, and particularly the costs or charges that this company imposes; and whether consumer rights are protected in this regard. [9233/24]
View answerGenerally, traders in Ireland, are free to set and change their prices for goods and services, once they do so independently and in line with consumer protection law. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022, traders are required to provide certain information to consumers prior to purchase. This includes the total price, inclusive of taxes, or the manner in which the price is to be calculated, allowing consumers to make an informed choice whether to purchase or not.
Consumer law also prohibits businesses from engaging in a misleading commercial practice. Under the Consumer Protection Act 2007, a commercial practice is regarded as misleading if the trader does not act in good faith and misleads the average consumer into taking an action that she/he may otherwise not undertake.
In the context of offering or advertising a service, misleading practices could include claims made about the price of the service or how that price is calculated. It is also a misleading practice to omit information about the price of the service or how the price is calculated, or to provide that information in a way that is unclear or untimely.
The 2007 Act also prohibits traders from making a false representation that a product is available only for a limited time, or on particular terms for a limited time, in order to elicit an immediate decision from a consumer, depriving the consumer of sufficient opportunity or time to make an informed choice in relation to the trader’s product.
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), the independent statutory body that enforces competition and consumer law under the remit of my Department, continues to promote and monitor compliance with competition and consumer protection laws across all sectors of the market and to investigate potential breaches, prohibited practices and offences.
