Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

All businesses cannot be tarred with the same brush. The efforts of many to provide real value and service to the consumer must be acknowledged. They have come to appreciate the value of a satisfied customer, seeing a professional approach to quality customer service as a key part of business strategy. The logic of such an approach is irrefutable. A satisfied customer will obviously return when needing to purchase an identical product or service in the future. A satisfied customer will recommend a supplier of a product or service to both family and friends, helping a business to grow.

However, there are also product and service providers who through greed have sought to exploit the vulnerability of many consumers. There are those who feel the need to profiteer on the back of increased spending power in some sections of society. Some unscrupulous traders ignore their obligations under the law. Some businesses seek to capitalise on the lack of competition either sectorally or geographically. These businesses have created rip-off Ireland. They must be the targets of new laws and regulations, subject to penalties imposed by statute or the ultimate sanction, the loss of business because of consumers exercising their discretion to bring business elsewhere. Consumers must not under estimate the power in exercising the choice to shop elsewhere. The consumer can also exercise choice without bringing their business elsewhere. Within the same shop, choices can be available between different brands, different product sizes and packaged and unpackaged goods. The key to exercising that choice is information.

A consumer, armed with the necessary information to determine which product represents best value for money, can exercise discretion in a positive way, influencing not only prices but quality of service. A variety of regulations exist requiring different traders to display the price of goods or services on offer. The unit pricing regulations introduced by the Government 18 months ago are one example. These require all retailers, whether they sell over the counter, by mail order or on-line, to display the price of all products available in the store or catalogue. When the goods in question are packaged and sold by weight or volume, the price per unit must also be displayed. For example, a supermarket shelf displaying different sized tins of beans, must also display not just the price per tin but, the equivalent price per kilogram in respect of each tin. With liquids, for example, washing up liquid, a price per carton and an equivalent price per litre in respect of each, carton, must be shown.

This extremely valuable information allows the consumer to instantly decide which product size represents the best value for money. The requirement applies to all packaged goods sold by weight or volume. The director of consumer affairs enforces the law. He carries out monthly surveys in compliance with the legislation and will be happy to hear from consumers who feel their local shop is not complying with display requirements. Restaurants, pubs, petrol stations and hairdressers are among those traders in respect of whom price display orders exist to help the consumer make informed choices. The value of such information should not be under estimated. I urge consumers to exercise choice where choice is available.

Consumers are a disparate lot but I recognise the work of the Consumers Association of Ireland, an effective voice on consumers' behalf for many years. Its task has not been an easy task. However, the value of its contribution and the difficulty in creating a coherent voice for consumers must not be under estimated. There may be different priorities and concerns for a consumer who experiences difficulty when purchasing an airline ticket, for example, than for a consumer who feels he or she has been charged an excessive price for basic foodstuffs at the local grocery counter. While I do not wish to prejudge the important work undertaken by the consumer strategy group, a key element of consumer strategy is to harness the voice and represent the interests of all consumers in a coherent way. Someone must speak with conviction and authority on behalf of consumers, not just when seeking redress for wrongs inflicted, but when making new laws and regulations.

I have outlined the comprehensive measures and policies already in place and envisaged, both domestically and internationally, to protect and represent consumer interests. Critically, I have outlined the work of the consumer strategy group which will shortly report to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, and can be expected to address any gaps or inadequacies in existing consumer policy. I expect the group to suggest some radical measures, bringing the consumer agenda in Ireland on to a new plane. This agenda cannot be prejudged and for that reason I oppose the Bill.

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