Legislation that would make all gift vouchers automatically valid for five years has been scrutinised by TDs in an Oireachtas committee.
Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins was before the Oireachtas Business, Enterprise and Innovation Committee where he explained that close to two thirds of the gift voucher market is completely unregulated.
Under the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017, an obligation will be imposed on traders to inform the consumer of any fees associated with the sale of the voucher before the consumer is bound by the gift voucher contract.
Committee Chairperson Mary Butler said: "Consumers need to know when they purchase a voucher from a retailer, online or in person, what the value of voucher is, the restrictions on use and the expiry date as stated up front."
She said retailers apply different rules to gift vouchers and there needs to be regulation of the area.
Her Fianna Fáil party colleague, Mr Collins, pointed out that "it is estimated that the spend on gift vouchers per annum is in the region of €350million, which is a very significant amount of money.
"It is further estimated by Pricewatch, who monitor in conjunction with the Consumer Association, that anywhere between 15% to 20% of vouchers never get cashed in," he said.
He said the bill is "about bringing certainty, transparency and also a little bit of definition to what people are signing up to when they buy them."
Labour Party Senator Kevin Humphries said that it is in the interests of the smaller retailer that this legislation is introduced "because confidence in the gift voucher means it will continue."
His Seanad colleague, Sinn Féin Senator Paul Gavan, pointed out that the committee has always worked constructively but "this is the third bill - this bill, Maurice Quinlivan's sale of tickets bill and David Cullinane's banded hours bill - where good legislation has come in and rather than progress the legislation, the Government says 'hold on, we've got our own bill.' It reminds me of the kid in the playground that says no its my ball and grabs it back."
"If the general public knew how business was being done in here, they would be a bit gobsmacked. This was a perfectly good bill that we can work. So the idea that our well paid civil servants spent a lot of time duplicating work that is already being done makes absolutely no sense. We just need to call that out."
