There is general agreement on this side of the House about this Bill. It will have the support of almost everyone in the House. It is welcome because this is the first time any effort has been made to bring legislation before the House dealing with trading stamps. An effort is now being made to regulate all types of transactions involving trading stamps.
Up to now trading stamps have been used mainly in connection with petrol sales. They have also been used in supermarkets and shops, but the main emphasis has been in connection with sales of petrol. Since the petrol crisis and the shortage of petrol they have faded from the scene and whether they will be restored to their previous prominence is a matter for conjecture.
Some matters connected with trading stamps have been a cause for concern. This Bill makes an effort to grapple with them. For example, if a firm in a small town had the right to use a particular brand of stamps, similar type businesses were prevented from obtaining such stamps. People selling similar commodities were seriously affected in their business and the firm with the stamps could obtain a monopoly of the trading in the town. I hope this Bill will ensure that, if trading stamps revert to their former position, they will not be allowed to create a monopoly situation. If there are two garages in one town and one garage obtains trading stamps, effectively they can close down the other garage selling a similar product. This Bill makes an effort to ensure that that will not be allowed to happen, and I welcome that approach.
It could happen that major firms would come into a town and put small companies and family firms out of business. This is serious and I am glad the Bill makes an effort to prevent stamps being withheld unreasonably from businesses. I am somewhat concerned about the number of companies who will be allowed to deal in trading stamps.
The number of such companies should be limited. If too many people are dealing in trading stamps the value of the stamps may be lessened. Any company issuing trading stamps should be a reputable company with some type of major issued share capital so that the Minister can ensure that if they issue a large number of stamps the people who obtain the stamps will be able to collect the relevant items. If a person has 50 books of stamps he should be guaranteed on calling to the headquarters of the trading stamps firm that he can pick up a television set, radio, items of furniture, and so on, and that this firm are reputable and honest and can meet their commitments in full.
I am also anxious to ensure safeguards in regard to catalogues. The Minister and many people are aware that the catalogues issued by these companies have been changing with a rapidity which was causing concern. I am anxious to ensure that firms will not be allowed to change too rapidly the cash-in values of stamps. If a catalogue sets out that, say, 25 books of stamps are required in order to obtain, for instance, a certain type of lamp, this should not be changed to 35 books in a short time and 45 in a further few weeks. The values in the catalogues must be retained for defined periods. I am glad that the Bill is endeavouring to ensure this. I would like the Minister to confirm that these firms will not be entitled to change the values contained in the catalogues without the written permission of the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy. Too many firms were changing the values published in the catalogues too quickly, thereby devaluing the stamps. My wife and I and various acquaintances, believing that we were going to obtain something at a certain valuation of stamps, found on going to cash in the stamps that we needed more books than we had. This is a cheap way of catching people out.
This is a Bill which everybody will have to welcome. Section 9 deals with display of information in shops. Sometimes people are not aware of values and they have insufficient information about the type of goods and it is important that people be informed sufficiently on this. The Bill appears to be safe on the next point, but I would like to know if a person is prevented from obtaining cash as distinct from goods in exchange for stamps. A person who has saved, say, 50 books of stamps may decide that he is entitled to some product and on calling to apply for this may be told that there has been a massive demand for this article and that it cannot be obtained for him. It might be a set of delph specified in the catalogue at a certain value in trading stamps. I would hope that such a person can obtain money in lieu of the product that he is seeking if that product is not available. On the morning radio programmes for housewives especially we hear of people seeking the various items and being told that unfortunately there has been a massive demand for this product and the number of applications has exceeded all expectations. That is too simple and glib an answer and I hope that the company who would set out an item in the catalogue and then be unable to furnish such an item because there has been a large demand for it will be obliged to pay cash instead.
Those are the major points I wish to make. One matter which appears to be covered adequately in the Bill is that products which people obtain against trading stamps will be equal in value to similar goods which can be purchased for cash. Section 8 would appear to cover that, but I would like clarification on this point.
The Bill provides that the company must have their place of business within the State. It may or may not be within the Minister's power, but I hope that efforts will be made within the Department and also other Government Departments to ensure where possible that goods of Irish manufacture can be obtained by a person cashing in stamps. I have been amazed to discover that a sizeable proportion of the products of the firms concerned are manufactured outside Ireland. We must use all the muscle we can to ensure that the products obtained on cashing in trading stamps are Irish. The Minister should ensure that the catalogues issued by these firms include Irish-made goods. There is a duty on all of us to ensure that the goods which will be obtained are Irish made. This Bill should help in the continuation and expansion of Irish industry. This is something that we should encompass in this Bill and which does not appear to be contained in it at present. It seems that the firms must be companies within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1963 but I do not see any reference to Irish-made products being used or exchanged by the companies. These companies would be obtaining their profits in Ireland and we must use all the muscle we can to ensure that they deal in goods bearing Irish trade marks and the "Guaranteed Irish" stamp. If we can ensure that these types of products are used then we should do so.
This Bill is breaking new ground and I welcome it. I do not know if trading stamps will be around for a long time but while they are we have a duty to ensure that the people who obtain them are treated fairly. This Bill is making a genuine effort to see that that is the case. Purchasers will in most instances be able to obtain good value in most shops not giving trading stamps if they shop wisely. If there are two products on the market which are similar in every respect and two shopkeepers are selling them, the consumer is right to obtain the product in the shop which gives him or her trading stamps. Our obligation is to ensure that the person who gets trading stamps gets a commodity which is fit for the purpose it was intended for and to ensure that the value of the stamps that person obtains are not reduced on a very regular basis. The Bill goes a fair way to meet the desires I have expressed.