Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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370. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment whether the Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019 mandates that gift vouchers retain their full monetary value for a minimum of five years from the date of issuance, thereby effectively prohibiting any reduction in value during that period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25151/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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371. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is aware of any companies that have not fully complied with the provisions of the Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019, specifically regarding the requirement that gift vouchers should not decline in value for at least five years. [25152/25]

Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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372. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to provide the total monetary value of gift vouchers that have expired or been subject to value reduction, in contravention of the Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019’s provisions, for each of the past ten years. [25153/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 370 to 372, inclusive, together.

The Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act, introduced by my Department, came into effect on 2nd December 2019 and covers gift vouchers purchased on or after that date.

Gift vouchers are also known as gift cards and the Act defines a gift voucher as any voucher, coupon, or other document or instrument, including in electronic form, that is intended to be used as a substitute for money in the payment, in whole or in part, for goods or services or otherwise exchanged for goods or services.

It is important however, that consumers are aware that not all kinds of gift vouchers are covered by this legislation. The legislation covers only gift vouchers that may be used in a particular shop or chain of shops, and also shopping centre gift cards, which can only be used in that shopping centre and not in shops elsewhere.

Examples of gift vouchers not covered by the Act include electronic money gift vouchers like One4All gift cards, that can be used in a range of retailers and also gift cards not limited to one shopping centre. Electronic money gift cards are regulated under the European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011. The Central Bank enforces rules for electronic money gift cards. Some of these gift cards may incur charges and consumers must be told about the conditions for using it, including any fees payable.

The Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act introduced new protections for consumers and the main ones are:

• gift vouchers must have a minimum expiry date of five years;

• consumers do not have to spend the full amount in one go, and

• consumers can use more than one gift voucher for one transaction.

Consumers should also be aware however that the five-year rule is not an EU requirement and if they buy a gift voucher from a business elsewhere in the EU, the five-year expiry rule may not apply.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) have advised my officials that as yet no cases have yet been taken under the Consumer Protection (Gift Voucher) Act 2019. However, the CCPC took enforcement action concerning gift vouchers in 2021 and 2022, whereby compliance notices were issued to two traders. These actions were taken under Consumer Rights Directive. Details are contained in the published Consumer Protection Lists 2021 and 2022, which can be found on the CCPC website.

My Department does not collect or retain information relating to the monetary value of expired gift cards or those which have been reduced in value.