Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming in. It is great to see we are looking at consumer rights and at strengthening them. I heard the Minister of State's opening remarks and understand there have been delays and challenges around the fact it has been so complex and that this has been a key reason for the delays.

It is crucial we are looking at consumer rights. A section I wish to highlight is that it is going to be possible to get a price reduction on faulty goods and flawed services. When you are looking at something, you are looking at sale items and everything else, but when something is damaged and you are paying full price for it, it is going to be fantastic for consumers to be able to engage with the retailer on this, and the retailer has very clear guidance on this as well.

It has probably been mentioned but the challenge we have is with the return of goods or items and how we are managing waste. I am thinking of things like fast fashion and so on. Is there anything in this Bill we can look at around that sort of circular economy? Maybe it is outside the remit of this but when we are looking at repairing and at items that are faulty, instead of the exchange, refund and repair, are there other elements we could use to strengthen the options consumers have around the circular economy?

Another aspect I want to highlight is digital content and streaming services. The challenge we sometimes have is consumers are sometimes not aware of their rights. We are looking at an ombudsman for consumers, but when it comes to this, will there be a communications campaign once this Bill come through? Will there be a way for us to ensure consumers are aware we have these new rights? It is great to have them, but when people do not know about them, it is a challenge. Perhaps shops could have signage up that people can see when they are paying so they are aware of these new options.

I apologise but the last point I wanted to raise has gone out of my head.