Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 May 2020
444. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the measures that will be taken to ensure that consumer rights are protected and that no excessive charging for products such as handwash and sanitiser take place during the Covid-19 crisis period; and the recourse consumers have for the excessive charging for such products (details supplied). [7858/20]
View answerThe power for Government under section 62 of the Consumer Protection Act 2007 to fix by order the maximum price at which a product can be supplied to consumers applies only where an emergency order is in force in relation to that product under section 61 of the Act. Section 61 provides that if the Government are of the opinion that abnormal circumstances prevail or are likely to prevail in relation to the supply of a product, the Government may by order declare that a state of emergency affecting the supply of that product exists.
The information available to me does not suggest that abnormal circumstances currently prevail in relation to the supply of hand washes and hand sanitisers. These products are relatively widely available in supermarkets and pharmacies and can also be purchased online. Therefore the requirement for abnormal circumstances in relation to the supply of hand washes and hand sanitisers, which is a prerequisite for the enactment of a maximum price order for these products, is not apparently met in present circumstances.
Though the details supplied by the Deputy may suggest that high prices are being charged for particular hand sanitiser products in some cases, more reasonable prices are being charged in other cases. Where high prices are being charged by retailers, these may reflect high wholesaler prices set by suppliers, many of whom may be based outside Ireland.
While there may well be cases of price hikes by individual traders, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data compiled by the Central Statistics Office do not suggest that retailers generally have taken advantage of the exceptional circumstances resulting from Covid-19 to introduce unjustified price increases. As measured by the CPI, prices were on average 0.4 per cent lower in April 2020 than in March 2020 and 0.1 per cent lower than in April 2019. Though prices for hygiene products which include liquid soaps but not hand sanitisers were 1 per cent higher in April 2020 than in March 2020, they were 1.7 per cent lower than in April 2019. The price of these products had previously fallen by 1.8 per cent between February 2020 and March 2020. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission have advised me that they have received a total of 13 complaints from consumers about the price of hand sanitisers since the start of the pandemic.
If consumers consider that retailers are charging excessive prices for hand sanitisers or other products, the most effective recourse available to them is to take their custom to retailers charging more reasonable prices.
