Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 107, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(1) (a) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, where a trader supplies a service to subscribers, it is an unfair term of the contract under which the service is provided if the trader, in relation to provision of the same or substantially the same service, charges consumers who are renewing their subscription a higher fee than the trader charges consumers who are new subscribers.

(b) In paragraph (a), “subscriber” means a consumer who receives a service from a trader pursuant to a contract where, on payment of a periodic fee, the contract with the trader under which the service is supplied is successively renewed or rolled over, whether the fee is calculated solely by reference to a period of time or by reference to the amount of service received during that period, or by a combination of both; and “subscription” shall be construed accordingly.”.

This is a very important amendment. The Minister of State in his contribution on Committee Stage was very determined to come back with good news on this one, so I hope he has good news. This amendment, in essence, bans what we now know will take place in the insurance industry whereby customers who are loyal to whichever company they are subscribing with are not discriminated against. In other words, if you sign up for broadband, if you are a long-standing customer, if you sign up for your phone tariff, your television package or whatever else, you will not be discriminated against as a consumer because you are a loyal customer. There are situations in which people who are loyal to a provider get one rate and then the person next door gets a cheaper tariff because he or she is switching. We all know that for a sizeable number of the population, the idea of switching provider is an ordeal. It might not be for the likes of us, but, certainly, thinking of my parents, the idea of switching would be a huge ordeal to them. Many of these companies, or basically all of them, know that. They have analysts studying this left, right and centre. Those who sign up consumers get bonuses and get paid more if they sign up more people of a higher age because it is known they are more likely to stay with the company. These are the simple facts. There should not be discrimination. If you are a new customer, that is great and you will get a good service, it is to be hoped, but that should not mean that those who have availed of the service for so many years or, in some cases, decades should be discriminated against.

I note that in one of the Minister of State's previous contributions he said he accepted the validity of this and, considering it is coming in in the insurance industry and the insurance market, would take the time between Committee Stage and Report Stage to look at how this could be achieved here as well. Ultimately it is - I have no doubt the Minister of State will agree - the right thing to do.

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