Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the former Senator Michael Dawson, who I see is in the Visitors Gallery, back to the House.

I commend Senators Ryan and Hannigan on the introduction of this Bill. I understand it seeks to prohibit the commercial practice of selling, or offering for sale, gift vouchers with a period of less than five years from the date of sale for the purpose of the Consumer Protection Act 2007. Like Senator Ryan, I am a person who has both given and received gift vouchers. There is no doubt they can sometimes prove beneficial. We are all aware of practices that occur in certain instances. For somebody who is celebrating a particular event, who would like to achieve certain things and identifies a particular pattern or structure to which people can go to give their piece to the party, for want of a better description, it can be helpful in providing a bigger picture and allowing the beneficiary to pick what he or she wants. I refer to somebody who is perhaps celebrating an event in his or her life. The easiest example to which to refer would be a wedding party, where a person would indicate a list in a shop or that one could buy a voucher in a particular outlet, which can be hugely helpful and beneficial.

As Senator Ryan mentioned, no doubt there are problems experienced by both the purchasers and the recipients of gift vouchers which probably require even fuller consideration than there is in the Bill, but it is to be hoped the Bill is a starting point. I would like to think that the House and the Government are committed through a number of actions to outline how best this can be achieved. In that regard, I would be interested to hear what the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, has to say on how we can address the problems and improve the existing system.

My understanding is that the Consumer Protection Act 2007, among other things, transposed the EU unfair commercial practices directive, UCPD, into Irish law and that section 55 of the 2007 Act essentially gave statutory effect to the list of the 31 specific commercial practices contained in the annex to the directive which were stipulated as being considered unfair in all circumstances. The UCPD was a maximum harmonised Community measure and the list of prohibited commercial practices specified in the directive's annex was also exhaustive in its nature.

It is my understanding, and the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher may clarify this point, that as a result, it is not open to Ireland to add unilaterally to the list of practices which are prohibited through the EU, as would be the case if this Bill were to be enacted. However, the UCPD contains a review clause which requires the European Commission to submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the operation of the directive, including any proposals to revise the directive by June 2011. It is open to Ireland to seek to add to the list of commercial practices prohibited under the directive and I understand this issue can be considered in the context of any review of the UCPD. It will be interesting to hear whether the Minister of State is happy merely to seek that particular mechanism or would like to see, as I mentioned earlier, a fuller consideration and a better readjustment to address all the difficulties and problems.

Seemingly, it is being accepted on both sides of the House not alone that there are problems but that they are encountered by both the purchaser and the recipient. There are probably others - those in the voucher business - who may be in a position to assist the Minister of State and work with him and his office to improve the current system.

We are not talking about the UCPD alone. I understand people are aware of concerns expressed by consumers and others about the manner in which some gift vouchers are offered for sale, and especially the difficulties consumers have experienced when seeking to redeem vouchers for related goods or services. Therefore none of us would be unsympathetic to addressing some of the issues contained in Senator Ryan's Bill.

My son brought to my attention recently that he was dealing with a gift voucher issue. When he went to see whether he could utilise a voucher for a sum, say €100, he could not do so. The best the shop could come up with in the festive season where there was nothing in the shop that met his need was to offer to split the voucher in two so as to have two vouchers to give as gifts. They would not give him back the money and I suppose in the scheme of things it probably was not a bad offer.

I am particularly annoyed when I receive a gift in the form of a small sheet of paper indicating that it is voucher for a meal for two in a restaurant and I go to cash it in the company of a friend, wife, partner, neighbour or whoever only to be shown the small print on the back stating it is not redeemable on Thursday or Friday nights between the hours of 8 o'clock and 10 o'clock. Such pure nonsense must be addressed. Cash is king. If a purchaser pays his or her hard-earned cash for a €100 voucher, that should be honoured left, right and centre as long as the cows take to come home and regardless of the time of day. That would be my short and simple version of how a voucher should be utilised.

I have experience of this voucher system and the number of vouchers that are redeemed because my wife has a premises in which she offers vouchers. It is amazing the number of vouchers purchased which are not redeemed, and this is through a system where, for want of a better description, there are no holds barred. She uses a system where one gives the voucher which may be cashed at any time. I understand that the current system allows the retailer to dictate the redeemability of a voucher.

The sale of items such as gift vouchers or gift tokens should be conducted in as transparent a manner as possible with terms and conditions on such matters as redeemable periods attaching to such items. I ask the Minister of State and his Department to examine the possibility of making regulations under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 with a view to prescribing specific information to make it as easy as I said. If it is a voucher, it should be treated as if it were cash.