Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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59. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the steps he is taking to strengthen consumer rights; and the initiatives he is undertaking to introduce the concept of a circular economy in key economic sectors. [6832/22]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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I will be introducing new and enhanced consumer protections measures shortly with the publication of the Consumer Rights Bill 2022 and its introduction into the Houses.

The purpose of this Bill is to give effect to a number of EU consumer rights Directives, including:

1. Directive 2019/770 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services;

2. Directive 2019/771 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods; and

3. the main provisions of Directive 2019/2161 on the better enforcement and modernisation of Union consumer protection rules.

The Bill will also consolidate, modernise and enhance domestic consumer contract law by bringing existing provisions together in a single enactment.

The main provisions of the Bill include:

- rights and remedies in consumer contracts for the sale of goods;

- rights and remedies in consumer contracts for the supply of digital content and digital services;

- rights and remedies in consumer contracts for non-digital services;

- consumer information and cancellation rights;

- unfair terms in consumer contracts;

- unfair commercial practices;

- enhanced enforcement measures available to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC).

As you may be aware the Government approved the General Scheme of the Circular Economy Bill 2021, brought forward in June 2021 by the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications.

As regards my own Department, it is engaged in the delivery of the aims set out in the New Consumer Agenda, which seeks to empower consumers to play an active role in the green and digital transition.

As part of the actions contained in the Agenda, the European Commission aims to bring forward proposals that will fight practices such as ‘greenwashing’ and early obsolescence and to promote practices that support a circular economy such as the right to repair. The European Commission will assess, in the context of its review of the Sales of Goods Directive, how to further promote repair and encourage more sustainable, ‘circular’ products. It will also review the General Products Safety Directive and carry out analysis of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and Consumer Rights Directive to see if further actions are needed. The outcome of the Commission’s deliberations may result in legislative changes in these areas for Ireland.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), as part of the EU CPC Network, undertook a sweep on greenwashing in November 2020 in order to provide consumer protection authorities with more data and to promote compliance. The CCPC identified traders for review across the financial, textile, beauty and vehicle sectors as part of this sweep and undertook compliance activities. The CCPC will continue to monitor and encourage compliance across all areas of consumer rights including those related to the circular economy. The CCPC will continue to highlight the need for products to be safe and compliant for their entire lifecycle. In addition to safety, this will assist in reducing early obsolescence and unnecessary waste. The CCPC has engaged with DG Competition in relation to the development of guidelines on the conditions in which cooperation between competitors can contribute to more sustainable products or production processes.