IRISH CONSUMERS’ rights will be reduced and undermined by EU Commission plans to harmonise consumer laws across all member states, an Oireachtas committee has been told.
The commission’s proposals will shift the balance in favour of traders and businesses and make it much more difficult for people to seek redress when things go wrong with their purchases, the Consumer Association of Ireland warned yesterday.
The proposed EU consumer rights directive needs to be revised and redrafted if the existing rights of Irish consumers are to be maintained, chief executive Dermott Jewell told the Committee on European Scrutiny.
Fianna Fáil TD Michael Mulcahy, the only member to attend yesterday’s meeting apart from the temporary chairman Tom Kitt, said the committee should obtain a legal opinion on the proposals.
Mr Jewell gave some practical examples of consumer rights which would be weakened under the proposals, such as the proposal to reduce the liability period for faulty goods from the current six-year limit to two years.
Mr Jewell said this would have a serious impact on consumers purchasing high-value items such as cars and household goods and would lead to some manufacturers reducing quality because their liability extinguished after two years.
The directive would undermine consumers trying to seek a resolution when things go wrong, he said. At present, Irish consumers have the right to reject goods which are not of merchantable quality or not fit for purpose or not as described.
Under the proposed changes, the seller would decide what redress to offer and could offer a repair or replacement.
“We believe this would be abused by some businesses and traders as they would continue to force consumers to send goods back for repair long after it was clear the product must be replaced or the consumer refunded,” Mr Jewell said.
