Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

I wish to raise an issue which has a legal implication. Gift tokens are part of our currency and they serve an important purpose. They are usually purchased over a holiday period and I imagine it is a multi-million euro business. However, it has a downside and increasingly I hear concerns about it. These tokens have an expiry date and while this might be understandable in the long term, the length of validity is getting increasingly shorter. Often, when people cash in the token they are embarrassed and told it is worthless. We must bear in mind goods or services have not changed hands. The business that issued the token now has the benefit of the money. However, the person who bought it and the person who received it have lost.

Often, poor circumstances are involved and the person who received the token is deprived of his or her rights. A debate on this would be helpful because it seems to require regulation. I was not aware of the serious nature of this matter until the number of people bringing it to my notice increased. We must respond to this concern.