Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What I have noticed is that if a person wants to purchase a product, he or she checks out where it can be sourced and then, because the supplier is unfamiliar to the person, he or she goes on Google. Lo and behold, the person finds that Tricky Dick, the supplier, has loads of testimonials as evidence of his being the most honest guy ever to walk the face of the Earth.

It is small wonder he has so many testimonies, given that he probably wrote them himself. This type of thing is rampant on the Internet, with actors mouthing the testimonies that were written by the suppliers. This is grossly fraudulent, reprehensible and totally immoral. It is amazing that it has taken so long to make it illegal, but I really welcome that it is being done.

On the digital side, much of the consumer protection law that is on the Statute Book was put there before the advent of the Internet and it does not capture the sale and supply of digital goods and services. It is very important to address this because business is increasingly being done digitally, even down to high street shopping, which is more often done online. The digital area, incidentally, is very difficult to control. It will be fascinating to see how effective the legislation is in policing digital transactions, which involve people connecting to the cloud or accessing material that has to be streamed or downloaded. That will be fascinating to watch. The Bill makes a very good effort to deal with that situation.

Regarding fair terms and conditions, we have the blacklist, which sets out the practices that are an absolute no-no, and the grey list, which deals with the terms that are presumed to be unfair. There are a number of very welcome additions to the blacklist in this legislation.

I also welcome the extension of the power of the CCPC to police this legislation and step in when the consumer cannot get a proper remedy from the supplier. That is extremely significant; nobody should underestimate its significance. I note the provision in section 34 that, provided one does not claim twice, the provisions in the Bill are not an alternative but an addition to present remedies. If someone chooses to do so, he or she can rely on the Sale of Goods Act 1893, which was passed in the reign of Queen Victoria, and seek the appropriate remedies set out in it.

In the time remaining, I would like to make two further points. First, the new legislation certainly will increase litigation. Of that there is no doubt. Unfortunately, this is happening at a time when access to the courts is becoming increasingly difficult. The time limit is beginning to grow again and the costs are once more rising. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to set up some sort of forum to discover ways to ease and facilitate access to the legal system. I wish that forum the very best of luck. I do not know whether it has yet been set up but, if not, it certainly needs to be done very quickly. In addition, the powers of the CCPC are going to be massively increased. That will require extra staff. There are several organisations in this country, the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, being one that springs to mind immediately, where the rules are in place and the people in question are operating those rules as fairly and efficiently as they can, but they are simply overwhelmed. The time it takes to get a remedy or sometimes even an answer from the RTB in these circumstances certainly has devalued the work of the board. I do not want to see that happening in this instance. When the Minister for Finance stands up to announce the next budget, I will expect a substantial increase in provision for the CCPC.

I know I am speaking to the converted but the final point I want to make is that this is a very lengthy Bill, with 163 pages and 173 sections. I ask the Minister of State to be generous in dealing with amendments that are put forward. Despite the wonderful work that has been done by the Parliamentary Counsel and the staff in the Department, nobody has a monopoly on wisdom. As I read through the Bill, I saw several places where the provisions could usefully be amended to strengthen them. For example, section 47, which is a very useful section dealing with transactions involving motor vehicles, is too tightly drawn and could be made much more efficacious if it were made more flexible.

I congratulate the Minister of State on his initiative in bringing this legislation before the Dáil. I wish it a speedy passage and I hope it goes through unopposed. I heard several cribs from the Opposition benches about the fact we are already past time for transposing the relevant EU directives. In fact, these directives have been transferred very quickly, comparatively speaking. I could cite what happened in the past but time does not permit me to do so.

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