Results 10,401-10,420 of 12,295 for speaker:Mary Butler

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: If a person has spent €50 on a voucher there should not be a limit on when he or she can spend it. A pub or a shop should not refuse to accept gift vouchers just because it is busy on a Sunday. Retail Ireland and Chambers Ireland are very supportive of a five-year timeline, while Retail Excellence is more supportive of a three-year timeline. Has Deputy Collins given any thought to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: I do not think there is an answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: When the Deputy was considering this Bill did he give any thought to a lost or stolen gift voucher?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: A person exchanges his or her money for the gift voucher so as far as the person is concerned the gift voucher is the same as money. If a person loses a €50 note he or she has no recourse, and if the person loses a voucher the majority of retailers feel the person has no recourse either unless, perhaps, they know the person well and have kept a record of it. Did you give any thought...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: To be fair, some of them might be small retailers, such as an independent hairdressing salon or a small store, and they might manually write out the gift voucher, whereas in the bigger retailers they would be provided electronically. It would be a good idea to keep a record of them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: Absolutely. I call Deputy Neville.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: That is a very fair point. To summarise, this is a pro-consumer Bill, which is most important. We are currently at a crossroads. I read recently that by 2020, 80% of all clothes will be bought online. We have high streets and towns and villages everywhere that are crying out for footfall. I know we get the footfall at Christmas. As Senator Humphreys has said, if one goes into one's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: I thank the Deputy and I propose that we now suspend the meeting for a moment to allow the Department officials to take their seats. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: I welcome from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr. Kieran Grace, principal officer; Mr. Billy Cox, assistant principal officer; and Ms Emma Hanrahan, executive officer, all of whom are attached to the competition and consumer policy section, to the meeting to scrutinise the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017. I have already read out the procedures, and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: I thank Mr. Grace. We will now take questions from members.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: It would be very helpful for us to understand it. When one looks at the draft scheme of the Government Bill, as we will call it to differentiate it from Deputy Niall Collins's Bill, the aim is the same. All the Bills that have been proposed seem to mention the five-year term. One might have mentioned a three-year term. There is general consensus that we need regulation of the sector....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: That would be very helpful. The witnesses have said there is one major drawback. I underlined it. The Department feels that, as drafted, the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017 is not suitable. A minor issue still took a page and a half to explain.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: There is a roadway there.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: My question was along similar lines. I want to tease out something Mr. Grace said. Lots of people use gift vouchers within a short space of time but if they have a gift voucher for a photographer, for example, they might wait until the next year to use it because they might have a holy communion or confirmation in their family. In that case, the gift voucher might be lying in a drawer for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: People would have to be informed of changes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: I understand the witnesses cannot comment on the money message and I should not have asked them to but I was just trying to tease out exactly where the costs were. Mr. Cox and Mr. Grace stated there would be awareness and enforcement costs. I do not think those costs would be such that it could prevent a Bill going forward. Some Bills would be way more costly to the State. I went over...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: That was my next question. Is there any regulation of those fees?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: I thank Mr. Cox for his informative explanation. I have heard people complaining that they thought they had €30 or €40 on a voucher and, when they go to spend it, they discover that is not the case. If the value of the voucher is falling by €1.45 every month, it reduces very quickly. We are all familiar with One4All voucher, especially when different companies and...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: One will not notice it.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation: Consumer Protection (Amendment) Bill 2017: Discussion (2 Oct 2018)

Mary Butler: Can I ask a couple of other questions in response to the recent public consultation? Did many people engage in the public consultation? It was noteworthy that the likes of Retail Ireland, who represent more than 3,000 outlets, and Chambers Ireland, supported the expiry date of five years and Retail Excellence supported three years. That was cohesive and all of those organisations were...