Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein)
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851. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the plans to introduce a right to repair; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43251/25]

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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The EU Directive on common rules promoting the repair of goods (the Right to Repair Directive) was adopted in July 2024 and will be transposed by officials in my Department by July 2026. The Right to Repair is one of a package of initiatives set out in the New Consumer Agenda and the Circular Economy Action Plan and follows up on the European Green Deal. It aims to promote sustainable consumption via an increase in the repair and reuse of defective goods purchased by consumers within and beyond the legal guarantee of conformity. It aims to make it easier and more cost-effective for consumers to repair as opposed to replace goods.

The Directive will allow consumers to access repairs easily outside of the guarantee period by putting the onus on manufacturers of goods that have to be repairable under EU law to offer a repair service. Under the Directive, any contractual clauses, hardware or software techniques that would impede the repair of the goods that have to be repairable are forbidden. This will include a ban on impeding the use of any compatible spare parts, including 3D printed parts once the parts conform with product safety or intellectual property law. This will enable independent repairers to make repairs more easily. Manufactures will also not be able to refuse to repair a good because someone else has tried to repair it first.

The Directive provides for the EU to set up a website where repairers or purchases or sellers of refurbished goods can advertise their services. The Directive also provides a template for a voluntary European Repair Information Form that repairers can choose to use to give consumers all the relevant information about the repair.

I look forward to the increased confidence and empowerment that consumers will have thanks to this Directive. It guarantees consumers will have accessible and reliable repair options, as well as enabling the use of compatible and 3D-printed spare parts, and ensuring that prior independent repairs do not limit consumers’ rights to manufacturer support. This Directive marks a step towards a more transparent, fairer and consumer-centric repair market in Ireland and the EU.