Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I raise a matter that was discussed on "Liveline" yesterday, on which I, as Labour Party spokesperson on consumer affairs, have been working for some time. It is November and with Christmas approaching people are considering gift possibilities. I do not include myself as I am very much a last-minute kind of person. Rather than choosing a gift people may decide to purchase gift vouchers for a friend, family member or colleague. In many cases such gift vouchers come with a latest date for redemption clause which is often as short as three to six months, most often the latter. There is no reason for an expiry date for gift vouchers. There is nothing perishable about them and they offer no risk to human health or well-being as they are usually made of paper or cardboard. Many jurisdictions have moved to change the law to outlaw such practices. There has been an amount of discussion about this over time, most recently on Joe Duffy's radio programme yesterday.

Coincidentally, on Tuesday I tabled a Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Bill 2009 at my parliamentary party meeting for approval, which it received. It is listed as No. 22 on the Seanad Order Paper today. It is a short Bill, the net effect of which would be that all vouchers will remain valid for five years following its passing. It would be an offence to sell a gift voucher with an expiry date of less than five years. I propose an amendment to today's Order of Business to allow my Bill be raised and therefore I propose that No. 22 be taken before No. 1. I ask the Leader to accept that proposal.