Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 June 2004
48 Dr. Upton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she will consider amending the Pyramid Selling Act 1980 to outlaw so-called gifting schemes specifically; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18094/04]
View answerThe EU Competitiveness Council, under my chairmanship, gave political agreement on 18 May 2004 to a proposed directive which, inter alia, will prohibit a wide range of “pyramid schemes”, including schemes of the type referred to by the Deputy. I hope that the directive will be adopted by the Council and Parliament later this year. A further period of two years is provided for the transposition of the directive into national law.
In the meantime, I believe the best remedy is common sense. It is clear that some participants in such schemes inevitably lose their money. People are entitled to use their money as they please, but given the publicity that has attached to the issue, they cannot be in any doubt about the risk they are taking if they participate in those schemes. If a scheme sounds too good to be true, it is probably just that — too good to be true.
