Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

The amendments in group 4 introduce new provisions concerning no discrimination and transparency in terms of the method chosen by customers to pay for goods and services. The introduction arose from an amendment proposed by Senator Cox on Committee Stage, which the House will recall the Minister undertook to consider.

The principal new provision in the amendments prohibits traders from imposing additional charges by reason of a person paying for goods or services by means of any of the relevant methods prescribed in the amendments — cash, credit card or direct debit — as distinct from any other relevant method. The amendments provide that an additional charge is deemed to have been imposed if the price charged by the trader for a product where a customer uses one of the relevant methods is greater than the price charged for the product where one of the other relevant methods is used. The amendments also empower the Minister to prescribe other methods of payment as relevant methods for the purposes of the Act.

The other main provision introduced by these amendments provides that traders who impose additional charges by reason of method of payment and who, by virtue of only accepting payment by one method or by imposing the same charge in respect of different relevant methods of payment, fall outside the scope of the no discrimination provision referred to earlier must include those additional charges within any statement or representation of the price of goods or services.

Senators may be aware that the introduction of these amendments has given rise to concerns among a number of traders, especially traders in the travel trade. While I am mindful of the concerns expressed by those traders and their trade associations, I am satisfied that, on balance, the proposed provisions have considerable merit, especially from a consumer protection point of view.