Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 December 2014
249. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his estimate of the value of the market for gift vouchers here; the legislative protection that governs such vouchers; his plans to review the regulations in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46176/14]
View answerAs gift cards and vouchers are offered by thousands of businesses, large and small, it is difficult to make a precise estimate of the value of the market for gift cards and vouchers. I am aware that, in a statement issued in November 2013, the Deputy put the annual value of the gift card industry at €250 million, but I do not know the basis for this estimate. The figure is clearly substantial, however, given that a survey of over 1,000 consumers undertaken for the National Consumer Agency in November 2013 found that around half of consumers planned to purchase gift vouchers or cards as Christmas presents that year and that the average intended spend per consumer on these products was €174. Though there are no specific legislative provisions governing gift cards and vouchers, businesses supplying these products are subject to general consumer protection legislation.
The European Communities (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations 1995 (S.I. No. 27 of 1995) provide protections for consumers against any term in a contract concluded between a seller of goods or supplier of services and a consumer which has not been individually negotiated and which causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer. The Consumer Protection Act 2007 protects consumers from unfair, misleading or aggressive commercial practices by traders, such as false or misleading information about the terms of use or date of expiry of gift vouchers. The European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 484 of 2013) impose an extensive range of information obligations on traders who sell gift cards or vouchers, whether on an on-premises, off-premises or distance basis.
The Regulations also give consumers who conclude contracts for the purchase of gift cards or vouchers on an off-premises or distance basis the right to cancel the contract within fourteen days of its conclusion. This right may not apply, however, to gift cards and vouchers for non-residential accommodation and catering and leisure services where the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance.
In view of the maximum harmonisation nature of Directive 2005/29/EC on Unfair Commercial Practices, it would not be possible to introduce legislative provisions regulating the expiry date or other terms and conditions of gift vouchers within the framework of unfair commercial practices law as given effect in the Consumer Protection Act 2007.
Though such regulation may be possible within the framework of the legislation on unfair terms in consumer contacts, a number of issues around such regulation require consideration and clarification. My Department is currently reviewing this legislation as part of a wider review of consumer contract rights law, and I have asked that possible provisions to regulate the expiry date and other terms and conditions of gift cards and vouchers be examined as part of this review.
