Vol. 325 No. 8
asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism if the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards is continuing to receive consumer complaints from the general public with a view to the issuing of independent technical reports to the parties concerned; and if he will make a statement on the current role of this service.
322.
asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism the number of staff currently employed by the complaints section of his Department for the general public in relation to consumer matters; the budget of the section concerned; the number of complaints received during 1979; and the total number of complaints received to date in 1980; and if he will make a statement on the future role of this section with particular reference to the telephone number and address of the section being made more widely known to the general public.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle I propose to take Questions Nos. 321 and 322 together.
Consumer complaints, in so far as they impinge on my Department's activities, come under three headings:
(a) The consumer protection section of my Department deals with complaints under the Sale of Goods legislation. These would be mainly disputes concerning allegedly defective goods and services.
(b) The Director of Consumer Affairs, whose office was created by the Consumer Information Act, 1978, deals with complaints under that Act. These are concerned mainly with misleading advertisements and false and misleading trade descriptions.
(c) The Institute for Industrial Research and Standards deals with complaints regarding the safety of products, and also gives technical advice on product standards and quality.
Each of these agencies is doing excellent work in helping the public with complaints about the supply of goods and services. Nevertheless I have felt for some time that their various roles may need to be rationalised. Proposals for a uniform system of helping consumers with complaints, with the Director of Consumer Affairs as its focal point are under consideration and I have already arranged that, with effect from 1 January 1981, the director will handle the type of consumer complaints currently being dealt with within my Department.
The handling of consumer complaints within the Department has been only one of the many responsibilities of the consumer protection section. For this reason, it is not possible to be specific as to the allocation of resources to that part of the section's work related to consumer complaints.
From 1 July 1980 to date, a total of 2,386 complaints were received in my Department; a record was not kept of the number of complaints received in 1979 or in the first half of 1980.
The institute is continuing to receive consumer complaints from the general public. Only in a small number of cases does a complaint require the issue of an independent technical report.
