Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 April 2016
34. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he is aware that a company (details supplied) is insisting that customers pay upfront for the collection of wheelie bins which are electronically tagged, despite not having made the fee structure pertaining to this available to customers or to the public; and his views on this practice. [8700/16]
View answerThe European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 484 of 2013) require traders to provide a range of information to consumers in a clear and comprehensible manner before the consumer is bound by the contract. That information includes the total price of the goods or services inclusive of taxes, or where the nature of the goods or services is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is to be calculated. If the contract is an off-premises or distance contract as defined in the Regulations, the information which the trader must provide forms part of the contract and cannot be altered without the express agreement of the consumer and the trader.
Investigation of possible breaches of the Regulations is the function of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. I have accordingly referred the Deputy’s question to the Commission for consideration.
