Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to discuss this important issue.

In 2018, I voted for the legislation - Senator Ned O'Sullivan was here at the time - covering gift vouchers and expiry dates. People were delighted because some people were losing out on the value of vouchers on the basis that they were only valid for one year and there was no means of extending the validity period. Sometimes companies did not honour vouchers. An example would be where someone named Mary had her second name written on the voucher. The legislation changed all of that, which was very good.At that time, another issue was raised with regard to gift vouchers. I refer to the company One4all and its application of maintenance fees. Where a person does not use a voucher within one year, thereafter One4all applies a maintenance fee of €1.45 per month. I have been contacted by people who live in a small town where there is only one shop that accepts One4all vouchers. These are elderly people who could not use their voucher during the pandemic as they were not going out and somebody else was doing the shopping for them. To use the voucher in other ways, they would have had to go to the city or to another town. They recently discovered that the value of the voucher has depreciated and they have lost quite a bit of money. If someone has a €50 voucher, it falls down behind a heater or whatever and he or she finds it four years later, it will be of no value. This is not acceptable.

Ireland was the first country to regulate in regard to the expiration timeframe for vouchers, which was extended to five years. At that time, the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, wrote to the European Commission, which gave a commitment to review this matter and to consider how the problem could be overcome. I have heard since that some shopping centres and delivery companies are applying a maintenance fee in respect of vouchers not redeemed within a required amount of time. Employers give employees gift vouchers as a means of thanking them or for another particular reason. People should be entitled to the full value of the voucher.