Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Senator Cox's point relates to the new section 49, which is being provided in amendment No. 27. The import of the section is that traders who accept payments by one method only would not have been captured by the new section 48 which seeks to equalise the methods of payment. The new section 49 imposes an obligation on the trader to be transparent in respect of payments. For example, if there is a surcharge for a payment made via the only acceptable method, the trader is obliged to include it in the advertised price.

The travel trade has made its concerns known to us all. It points out that it incurs an additional cost due to the surcharge imposed when payment is made by credit card. The Minister and the Department have taken account of the points made, but it did not prove possible to address them in section 48 or section 49 without diminishing the consumer protection inherent in the new sections.

Not only is it Government policy, there is significant agreement on the need to move to a cashless society. There are costs associated with payments by cash for the State and others. The Minister continues to examine the means open to him to ameliorate the effect on the travel trade in the short term, but it was not possible to make a provision in the Bill that would meet the trade's concerns.