Dáil debates
Thursday, 24 October 2024
Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions
Services Sector
11:35 am
Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source
I hope most examples will not be just in Ireland and the reaction to those types of fast practices. If advertising standards are to be complied with, the minimum or maximum price have to be advertised clearly. Very simply, we need to put in law what is the maximum price so that somebody purchasing a bedroom for a weekend or a concert ticket knows exactly what the price can go to. That is clear and simple and it is one way of addressing this issue. I am not saying that those who are selling a product or service should not sell it for whatever price. That is not the issue. The issue is that when people are online, dynamic pricing goes out of kilter. That adds to the reputation, wrongly, I believe, of rip-off Ireland. There are many good businesses, including hoteliers and those involved in concerts, that do not engage in fast practices and are decent and honourable people. In fact, they usually go the other way and reduce prices if they can rather than increase them. We need to address this to protect ourselves and consumers.
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