Consumer protection law obliges traders offering a product for sale to indicate the selling price and the unit price of that product and to ensure that the indication of the selling price and of the unit price is clearly visible. Complaints in relation to products being offered for sale where the price or unit price is not clearly visible should be brought to the attention of the National Consumer Agency who has responsibility for enforcing consumer law. Similarly in instances where a wrong indication of price is concerned, traders who provide false information in relation to the price of a product may be engaging in a misleading commercial practice and may, therefore, be committing an offence under consumer law. Again instances of such practices should be referred to the National Consumer Agency in order that they can be investigated.
As regards the provision of information in relation to the terms and conditions that may apply to a particular product, consumer protection law also prohibits traders from engaging in misleading commercial practices, including practices which involve the concealment or omission of material information that the average consumer would need to make an informed transactional decision and which could cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision he would not otherwise make. Accordingly, persons who may be concerned that traders may be engaged in selling products by means of false representation through the omission or concealment of material information, such as relevant information concerning the terms and conditions relating to such products, may wish to bring their concerns to the attention of the National Consumer Agency so that they may be investigated.
As regards enforcement activity, the National Consumer Agency maintains and publishes a Consumer Protection List of enforcement actions taken against traders who do not comply with the requirements of consumer protection law, including those requirements in relation to the above mentioned provisions of the law. I am advised that in so far as enforcement in relation to pricing is concerned, the Agency in the course of 2012 visited some 349 traders, across a range of sectors, and covering all counties. As a result of these visits, the Agency in 2012 issued 111 pricing enforcement actions to traders, comprising 71 Fixed Payment Notices (fines of €300 in each case) for breaches of the requirement to display prices, and 40 Compliance Notices for charging higher prices than those displayed. Details of the Agency's enforcement actions are published in its Consumer Protection Lists and I understand that the next Consumer Protection List, covering the period May to December 2012, will be published shortly.
I very much support the Agency's proactive approach, as evidenced by its enforcement activities, to ensure that consumers are provided with accurate information regarding products and services and are not exposed to unfair or misleading commercial practices. It is important that those who would seek to mislead consumers through the provision of false information are subject to the rigours of consumer protection law and I welcome the Agency's determination to ensure that the law is enforced in such situations.
