Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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117. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will ensure that companies honour warranties on their products; if so, if this will be unaffected by independent repairs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59785/21]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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Consumers have protection under both EU and domestic legislation when they purchase a product. According to our sale of goods legislation, if the product received is not of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose or does not match the description given to the consumer, they have a right to certain remedies including repair, replacement or a refund. Section 53(2) of the Sale of Goods Act 1893 states, that where a buyer deals as consumer and the seller refuses, or fails within a reasonable time, to remedy a breach of a condition implied into the sales contract by the Act, the buyer is entitled ‘to have the defect constituting the breach remedied elsewhere and to maintain an action against the seller for the costs thereby incurred by him’. Under S.I. No. 11/2003 - European Communities (Certain Aspects of the Sale of Consumer Goods and Associated Guarantees) Regulations 2003 products must be ‘in conformity’ with the contract. To be in conformity, the products must meet specific conditions about quality. This is known as the legal guarantee. The legislation includes a reverse burden of proof so where a problem with a product arises within 6 months, it is presumed that it was there at the time of delivery and it is up to the trader to prove otherwise. After this period the consumer must prove that the problem existed at the time of delivery and must make their claim within 6 years of delivery.

In addition to the legal guarantee, some traders also offer consumers other after-sales services in the form of commercial guarantees or warranties. These cover faults that arise with a product after use by the consumer for a specific period of time. Commercial guarantees are generally offered for free by a trader but often require the consumer to register and provide certain data to the trader in order to apply. On the other-hand a warranty can be provided for a set fee and, like insurance, may cover things like accidental damage.

Because commercial guarantees and warranties are offered as an additional service to consumers, their terms and conditions can vary from trader to trader. However, they cannot contain unfair terms or seek to adversely affect a consumer's statutory rights. If they do contain this sort of term, it will not be legally binding on the consumer. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission ("CCPC") recommends that consumers always check the terms and conditions of their guarantee or warranty to see if it will be affected by independent repairs.

If a trader refuses to honour a commercial guarantee or warranty, both are enforceable under contract law through the Courts (incl. the Small Claims procedure). Where a consumer has a query on their rights in relation to these agreements, or wants to make a complaint, they can contact the CCPC helpline for further information. The CCPC has also published some useful consumer advice on their website in relation to guarantees and warranties here: www.ccpc.ie/consumers/shopping/buying-goods/guarantees-and-warranties/.

In terms of updating the law, the Consumer Rights Bill is currently being drafted by my Department and will further strengthen consumer rights in relation to both the legal (statutory) and commercial guarantees. Part 2 of the Bill will transpose the new Directive (EU) 2019/771 on contracts for the sale of goods into Irish law. Under the Directive commercial guarantees are broadly defined as:-

‘any undertaking by the trader or a producer to the consumer, in addition to the trader’s legal obligations relating to the guarantee of conformity, to reimburse the price paid or to replace, repair or service goods in any way if they do not meet the specifications or any other requirements not related to conformity set out in the guarantee statement or in relevant advertising’.

In relation to independent repairs there will positive changes implemented by the Bill. Under the legal guarantee, the Bill sets out detailed rules for the remedies of repair, replacement, price reduction and termination where there is a lack of conformity of the goods with the contract. The Bill further states that the consumer can have any lack of conformity remedied elsewhere and recover all reasonable costs in doing so from the trader.

The Bill also includes more detailed provisions in relation to unfair contract terms which will apply to all consumer contracts, including commercial guarantees and warranties offered by traders to consumers. It includes a blacklist of unfair terms as well as a list of contract terms presumed to be unfair. This latter list includes 'A term which has the object or effect of preventing without a valid reason the consumer from obtaining repairs or spare parts from another trader.' The Scheme of the Consumer Rights Bill recently went through pre-legislative scrutiny and my officials have assured me that the Bill will be ready for publication in the very near future.