Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2015
313. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the protection the new Consumer Rights Bill will provide to persons who are victims of petrol stretching and diesel laundering; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25072/15]
View answerThe supply to consumers of petrol that has been stretched or diesel that has been laundered is covered by existing consumer protection legislation. The Consumer Protection Act 2007 provides that a commercial practice involving the promotion or supply of a product to a consumer is misleading if it includes the provision of false information in relation to a wide range of matters relating to the product - including its main characteristics, commercial origin, benefits or fitness for purpose, the risks it presents to consumers and its composition - and if that information would be likely to cause the average consumer to make a purchasing or other decision that he or she would not otherwise make. A trader who engages in a misleading commercial practice of this kind commits an offence. A commercial practice may also be misleading if the trader omits or conceals information necessary for an informed consumer decision and if that omission or concealment would be likely to cause the average consumer to make a purchasing or other decision that he or she would not otherwise make.
The Sale of Goods Acts 1893 and 1980 imply into contracts for the sale of goods by description a condition that the goods shall correspond with their description. The Acts further imply into contracts of sale a condition that the goods are of merchantable quality, that are fit for the purpose or purposes for which goods of that kind are commonly bought and as durable as it is reasonable to expect having regard to any description applied to them, the price (if relevant) and all the other relevant circumstances. Breach by a seller of a condition of a contract of sale may give rise to a right for the buyer to reject the goods, treat the contract as repudiated and obtain a refund of the price.
The Scheme of the Consumer Rights Bill published for consultation by my Department on 25 May 2015 similarly provides that contracts for the supply of goods include an implied term that the goods supplied match the description of the goods given by the trader. It also provides that these contracts include an implied term that the goods are of satisfactory quality. The Scheme sets out a clearer and more workable set of remedies for consumers where these implied contract terms are breached. The consultation on the Scheme of the Bill remains open until Friday 28 August 2015.
