James Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairman for affording me my full title. I welcome the Minister back to the House.She has a strong record of bringing Bills to this House that are practical, of public interest and to the benefit of the consumer.

One of the main parts of this Bill is that none of these vouchers should expire in less than five years and I strongly agree with that. I continually come across vouchers that are not much use to me anymore. People buy them with the intent that the person for whom they are bought will benefit from them. It is not good enough that certain retailers have used methodologies to deprive people of what they have paid for either for themselves or someone with whom they have close links.

As the Minister mentioned, many retailers honour vouchers long after their expiry date. I recall listening to a man from Dundalk espousing that very point on the radio. Somebody walked into his shop after 28 years and he honoured the voucher. Inflation must have taken its toll but, even so, it was a great thing to be able to say and one could only commend him on that approach.

The provisions in this Bill are important and the one around full redemption of the voucher at the time is an important consideration. Consumers should be able to retain what remains on the voucher. It is utter nonsense that a voucher is invalid if there is a different name on it from the person who presents it. That is clearly spurious and unfair.

This is a good Bill. The Labour Party made an attempt at this legislation back in 2009 but it was rejected by the Government of the day. As the Minister said, in 2015 the then Minister, Deputy Bruton, put forward a Bill like this that did not become law.

I hear precisely what the Minister said about her concerns around electric money orders and I agree we do not want to find ourselves falling foul of European law. I am pleased she will come back with an amendment to address that particular situation following a review.

I want to mention One4all, a company set up in Swords in 2001 which employs 140 people. It provides a fantastic service and also brings in a lot of money from abroad as it is a huge provider of gift cards in the UK and Maltese markets.

Employers should note that Revenue takes a benign view on vouchers. An employer can give a voucher up to the value of €500 without it incurring a tax liability on the employee and it allows the employer company to claim it against tax. Employers should remind themselves of that if they want to make Christmas time a bit better for their employees, or if the business is going well and they want to reward their workers.

It is important we remind people of the vouchers. The Minister told us that €600 million is spent on vouchers in this country each year. How many people have vouchers stuck in drawers and odd places at home and have forgotten about them? Everyone should make it their new year's resolution to hunt out old vouchers in their houses and spend them because that is the way the shopkeepers will get their money and the consumer will benefit from the gift that has been bestowed upon them.

There is an issue I want clarity on, and I have spoken to the Minister's officials, but I think it would be useful to put this on the record of the House. In many instances, as the Minister pointed out, the vouchers are never spent, for whatever reason, whether they are lost, misplaced or out of date. I would like to know what happens to the money. I am not talking about electric money transfers, which we know stay in perpetuity and the consumer has a right, whether in three, five or 20 years, to come back for. I am talking about the gift vouchers that we are addressing in this particular legislation. If the voucher is never redeemed, what happens to that money? I have been told it goes into an account that neither the shopkeeper nor the retailer can access. I would like to know if that is true and, if that is the case, whether it becomes part of the dormant accounts system and ultimately find its way back into public circulation. I do not believe that is true. What has happened to the money I paid for that voucher for my friend ten years ago? Did the shopkeeper from where the token benefit from it? Did the gift card seller who did the deal with the shopkeeper for those tokens get the money? What happened to the money? I would appreciate if the Minister can provide clarity on that because I have heard various things and, obviously, it is something in which I have an interest.

To reiterate, this is a good, simple and straightforward Bill. It will hugely improve consumers' rights and we cannot let the opportunity pass without reminding everybody at home that if they have vouchers to dig them out and spend them. I commend the Bill to the House.