THE GOVERNMENT accepted a Fine Gael Private Members’ Bill increasing the consumer threshold at the Small Claims Court.
FG spokesman on enterprise Leo Varadkar said that while he would prefer if the Government accepted the Bill immediately, he appreciated that it was agreeing to it in principle.
“I expect that the Government will introduce its own legislation within six months and that, if not, we will proceed to committee stage with this Bill,’’ he added.
He said the court currently allowed consumers to seek redress, in respect of disputes regarding the sale of products or money owed, to a limit of €1,000 or €1,270.
This, he said, was a low limit, given that a family holiday, widescreen television or suite of furniture would cost more than €1,270. The Bill proposed a threshold of €3,000. Mr Varadkar said that the Bill allowed businesses, particularly small businesses, to use the Small Claims Court procedure to pursue debtors, including companies and Government agencies who failed to pay their bills.
This, he added, was a particularly important provision for a sector which employed approximately 800,000 people in 250,000 different businesses.
Mr Varadkar said that the Bill also included a proposal for a PRSI exemption or wage subsidy.
“We understand that the biggest problem facing people is unemployment,’’ he added.
“Some 400,000 people are currently signing on the Live Register. It appears that the number will continue to rise, even though the economy will return to growth.’’ Minister of State John Moloney said the Government was in broad agreement with the Bill.
“The Government has made it clear that it is open to ideas, and we will not be voting against the Bill this evening,’’ he added.
However, said Mr Moloney, there was a number of concerns about the detail of the Bill, and, therefore, the Government was proposing that the second reading be postponed for six months in order to reconsider the detail and ensure that it did not have any adverse effect on the operation of the small claims’ procedures.
