Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On Tuesday I requested that the Attorney General be asked to come to the House under Standing Order 56 to explain her role in the current controversy and answer valid questions that many of us on all sides of the House had. I will not rehash those questions, but my request is as valid today as it was on Tuesday. I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business that, under Standing Order 56, the Attorney General come to the House today to answer our questions and those of the public about her role in these issues, given that she knew about them last November and, apparently, did not tell anyone about them.

Will the Leader arrange a debate on online savings and discount companies? How are they regulated? Like many others, I have been done by completesavings.ie. The Leader might like to check this out for himself. Irish Rail offers a €10 discount on the next fare, but, unbeknownst to anyone, the website signs up the customer with completesavings.ie which takes €12 a month from his or her bank account. I have been in contact with Irish Rail and completesavings.ie. Some of my colleagues have been duped in the same way. More important, many hundreds of people have unknowingly been signed up for this payment in connection with future discount offers.

Two questions must be asked. One specifically relates to the appropriateness of a semi-State company like Irish Rail, for example, offering these types of "savings" to people, as it could cost €144 per year to get €10 off a rail ticket. That is a specific example but, more important and in general, there is a question of how these types of online offers are regulated and who looks after them. I have written to the Consumers Association of Ireland in this regard and I intend to take up the matter with the Minister, Deputy Varadkar, who I have no doubt will be concerned about a company in his charge having a commercial arrangement with a private company which is passing on bank, credit and debit card details from the Irish Rail website to a third party which happens to be an English company. We could tease out the matter in the Seanad, as it is wholly inappropriate for Irish Rail to enter into an arrangement like this. Other companies, like Ryanair, have such arrangements but they are private; although I do not agree with it, they can do as they like. I believe Argos recently had a commercial arrangement with the company but has severed its links in that regard.

This is extreme sharp practice and many citizens are paying money for it from their accounts. These do not show up as a direct debit but rather a point of sale payment with no other details. We could have a job to do in looking at the regulations and highlighting these specific cases.