Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The purpose of this Bill is to update and modernise Irish law relating to hallmarking by, first, amending the law relating to the assaying and hallmarking of articles of precious metals to include palladium and mixed precious metals in the definition of articles of precious metals and, second, by making provision for the possibility for the Irish Assay Office to assay and hallmark articles of precious metal outside the State in certain circumstances.

Third, it provides for offences and penalties relating to forged hallmarks.

The term "Hallmarking" describes the administrative and legal system for ensuring that articles of precious metals conform to legal standards as to the fineness of the metals. Fineness is a measure of the quality of a precious metal and represents its purity in an alloy as determined by assaying the article. Legislation dating back to 1637 states that no article made from named precious metals can be sold in Ireland without it being assayed and hallmarked. This is one of the earliest examples of consumer protection legislation in Ireland.

The term "precious metal", as defined in section 1 of the Hallmarking Act 1981, covers articles made from gold, silver or platinum or alloys of these. Such precious metals must bear an Irish hallmark, a hallmark of the international hallmarking Convention on the Control and Marking of Articles of Precious Metals, of which Ireland is a member, or an approved hallmark from an EU member state in order that they can be legally offered for sale in this country. Every article of precious metal must be hallmarked.

In addition to hallmarks, articles of precious metals commonly bear a sponsor’s mark. This identifies the person who submits the article for hallmarking, that is, a dealer or the person who made the article or who worked it into its finished state. As a result, the owner of an article can identify not just the metal's fineness and the assay office that determined it, but also the origin of the article.

The primary legislation dealing with hallmarking in Ireland is the 1981 Act. Regulations made under it include the Hallmarking (Irish Standards of Fineness) Regulations 1983 and the Hallmarking (Irish Standards of Fineness) (Amendment) Regulations 1990, which list the approved standards of fineness for articles made from or containing precious metals. These regulations are in addition the standards of fineness referred to in the charter granted to the Wardens and Commonalty of Goldsmiths of the city of Dublin on 22 December 1637, section 22 of the Plate Assay Act 1783 and section 3 of the Plate Assay (Ireland) Act 1807.

The Company of Goldsmiths of Dublin governs the Dublin Assay Office, which is situated in Dublin Castle. The Irish Assay Office, IAO, is the independent, self-funding, third party, State-appointed test laboratory that assays and hallmarks items of gold, silver and platinum jewellery and plate articles that are either manufactured in Ireland or imported. The mark of the assay office is the indication that the precious metal conforms to a certain standard of fineness. The public is therefore assured that, for example, an article that states that it is pure gold actually is pure gold.

Since the current legislation was introduced in 1981, there have been advances in the jewellery trade. Palladium has been recognised as a precious metal and there has been an increase in the production of jewellery made of mixed precious metals. Under current legislation, the assay office cannot legally hallmark palladium or articles made from mixed precious metals, as the 1981 Act does not provide for this. However, Irish consumers may not be familiar with overseas hallmarks in the same way as they are knowledgeable about and aware of Irish hallmarks and they may be misled when purchasing such an article. The introduction of new Irish hallmarks for articles made of palladium and mixed precious metals would provide effective protection for consumers, increase consumer confidence in the fineness of the precious metal articles and promote fair trade.

In recent times, there has been a trend towards assay offices in other jurisdictions opening offices outside their countries of residence or placing officials in factories abroad in order to assay and mark articles of precious metals on site. This practice has been made for business reasons, since it is easier for a manufacturer if the testing and marking are done in the factory where the product is made, with the delivery time being shortened and the product being packed for retail display at source. Compliance is also facilitated by having the testing and marking done before products enter, for example, an EU member state. This has happened in the UK and the Netherlands.

In order to have the possibility of engaging in such offshore assaying if it chose to do so, the assay office made a request to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to amend the 1981 Act to that effect. While it is my understanding that the need for such offshore marking is not currently required and that the assay office does not intend on engaging in such activity in the near future, legislating for the possibility at this stage is seen as a prudent way of ensuring that the facility is available if required. Approval from the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation would be required for any such offshore activity by the assay office under the proposed legislation.

The same prudent approach lies behind the proposed provision allowing for the possibility of the IAO entering into an arrangement with another assay office to hallmark precious metals. For example, such a scenario might arise where the volume of articles of a specific precious metal might not justify expenditure on the assaying equipment for that metal.

The issue of offshore marking has undergone fluctuating phases of popularity and desirability in recent years. However, the provision of an enabling legal basis for offshore marking does not oblige the IAO to open offshore offices. Rather, it ensures that, if offshore marking is ever required by the office in the future, no new primary legislation will have to be introduced.

As the Bill is a technical measure, consultation with the European Commission and all other EU member states was required under EU law. That consultation period has now passed and no submissions were received from parties in other member states or from the Commission.

Turning to the specific provisions of the Bill, I will explain what each is designed to achieve. While three principal issues are involved, the technical nature of the Bill means that a wide range of amendments to the 1981 Act are required to give effect to these changes. Section 1 on definitions and section 15 on the Short Title and commencement are standard legislative provisions while sections 2 to 14, inclusive, are the core provisions of the Bill. Section 2 provides for amendments to section 1 of the 1981 Act by amending that Act’s definitions to add palladium and mixed precious metals to the definition of "articles of precious metal", include a definition to cover hallmarking in assay offices outside the State, and define what constitutes a "forged hallmark".

Section 3 provides for an amendment to section 2 of the 1981 Act enabling the assay office, if it is approved to engage in offshore marking, to strike hallmarks outside the State and for articles bearing those hallmarks to be treated in the same way as articles bearing hallmarks struck in the State. Section 4 provides for an amendment to section 3 of the 1981 Act to allow for the making of regulations to prescribe different marks for hallmarks applied in Ireland and for those applied offshore. Section 5 provides for a technical amendment to section 4 of the 1981 Act regarding forged hallmarks. Section 6 provides for the addition of three new sections to the 1981 Act to allow offshore hallmarking to take place if the IAO chooses to engage in such activity. Thus, it is only providing for the opportunity to do so rather than placing any obligation on the office to do so.

The first new section gives the IAO the potential to open authorised offices outside the island of Ireland that can assay and hallmark articles of precious metal as if it were done by the assay office in Dublin. However, this offshore office can only be established with the permission of the Minister of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. In seeking the Minister’s permission to establish an offshore office, the assay office must provide detailed information on how that office will be managed, for example, its governance and administration, the employment terms and conditions of any staff that may be employed in the offshore office and the costs of establishing such an office.

The second new section provides that the IAO, if it so desires and with the consent of the Minister, can enter into an agreement with another assay office of another contracting party to the international hallmarking convention to carry out assaying and hallmarking that conform to Irish standards. The new section also sets out the information that the IAO must supply to the Minister when seeking the Minister’s consent for such an agreement in terms of corporate governance, administration and management of that assay office, the terms and conditions of any agreement with that assay office and the charges that are to be imposed by that assay office.

The third new section provides for the granting of specified powers to the IAO in terms of an official seal and authorisations on its behalf to carry out assaying and hallmarking that conform to Irish standards where the IAO chooses to establish an offshore assay office or enter into an agreement with an assay office of another contracting party to the international convention.

Section 7 provides for a technical amendment to section 5(1) of the 1981 Act by adding palladium to the list of articles of precious metals for which it is an offence to apply a false trade description. Section 8 provides for a technical amendment to section 6(2) of the 1981 Act by adding palladium to the list of articles of precious metals qualified by the word "plated". Section 9 provides for a technical amendment to section 8 of the 1981 Act by adding palladium to the list of articles of precious metals to ensure that every reference to gold or silver in an enactment specified in subsection (2) shall be construed as including a reference to palladium.

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Section 10 provides for an amendment to section 9 of the Hallmarking Act 1981 to allow the Irish Assay Office and a sponsor to make arrangements for the sponsor's mark to be struck by the Assay Master or an authorised assay office as soon as practicable after the submission of the article for the striking of an approved offshore hallmark in accordance with section 6 of this Bill.

Section 11 provides for an amendment to section 12 of the Hallmarking Act 1981 to ensure that in the case of additions to existing articles of precious metal the added metal is of the same precious metal as the existing article. It also provides technical amendments to certain cases of coatings added to existing articles of precious metals.

Section 12 provides for the inclusion of provisions on offences and penalties related to forged hallmarks. Section 13 provides for an amendment to section 14 of the Hallmarking Act 1981 by providing for the Irish Assay Office to make charges, with the consent of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, for hallmarks applied in any offshore assay offices it establishes under section 6 of this Bill, in the same way as it currently does for hallmarking in its Dublin office.

Section 14 is a standard repeals provision and provides for the repeal of sections of the Plate Assay (Ireland) Act 1807 and section 13 of the Hallmarking Act 1981, both of whose subject matter are now covered by section 12 of the Bill.

After a house and a car, jewellery is one of the most expensive outlays for consumers in their lives and it is important that they are assured that they are getting what they pay for, particularly given the often very sentimental value that also attaches to such articles. This Bill aims to enhance consumer protection and to strengthen consumer confidence regarding the proper hallmarking of articles of precious metal in respect of their finesse.

I look forward to working with Deputies on Committee and Report Stages of this Bill in terms of any amendments that may be proposed. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mitchell O'Connor, and I will be happy to reply to any questions arising. I commend the Bill to the House.

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