Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 13 October 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

General Scheme of the Consumer Rights Bill 2021: Discussion

Photo of Richard BrutonRichard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to return to the issue of the difficulty in contacting many of these providers of services. It seems that they do this without any regard to consumers. This is important in the context of rising energy prices. Since people can reduce their costs significantly if they switch providers, this is a deliberate attempt to try to lock people in and put them at a disadvantage by using consumer inertia. The longer people have to wait, the more likely it is that they will get exasperated. If not through this legislation, how can we get to grips with the situation? Could the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, use some of its powers to go after the main offenders?

My next question is on labelling. There is an increasing demand from consumers to know about, for example, repairability, ingredients and whether production methods have adverse environmental impacts. Is this Bill a vehicle whereby we can see those provisions becoming available to consumers over time?

My final question is on the withdrawal of consent. As they say, if you are getting something for free, you are the product. As such, people should have the right to withdraw. Are we saying that this is about data protection rather than contracts? If I understood what the witnesses said, once someone's personal data are processed, he or she has a contract, so why would someone not use that contract as the route of enforcement rather than seeking to find other rights under the Data Protection Act? What are other member states doing in this regard?

We need to put limits on this consent activity. I would have thought that new expectations in the contract that are enforceable and have remedies would be the easiest way to address this.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.