Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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523. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the position regarding the rights of a person in a circumstance (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40494/16]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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On the basis of the details provided by the Deputy, the seller in this case would appear to be in breach of the delivery obligations applying to consumer contracts under section 29 of the Sale of Goods Act 1893 as amended by Regulation 30 of the European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013. Where a seller fails to deliver goods in accordance with section 29 of the Act, the buyer may treat the failure as a breach of a condition of the contract which entitles the buyer to repudiate the contract. As the seller in this case appears to have terminated the contract and given the buyer a refund, I appreciate that this remedy is of no benefit to the buyer.

Though the Deputy will appreciate that it is not my function to assess whether there has been a breach of consumer law in any given case, the details provided suggest that that there may be a question regarding the trader’s compliance with the information requirements for on-premises contracts under Regulation 5 of the European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations. The Regulation requires that, before a consumer is bound by an on-premises contract, the trader shall provide the consumer, among other things, with information on the arrangements for delivery of the goods in a clear and comprehensible manner if that information is not already apparent from the context. A trader who contravenes the Regulation commits an offence.

I have referred the details provided by the Deputy to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission for consideration. As the Commission is fully independent in the exercise of its investigative and enforcement functions, it will be for it to determine whether any further action is warranted in the matter.