A branch of high street pharmacy Boots was fined over €1,000 and became the first company prosecuted for breaching a European Union directive aimed at cutting levels of electrical waste, it emerged today.

Restaurants and cafes were warned today to display their prices at front doors or risk fines of €3,000.

FRESH attempts are to be made to secure a recall of a defective car seat following pleas by a young mother whose baby died after her seat shattered in a car crash.

A MOTOR dealer in Tipperary has become the first person to be convicted of “car clocking” — selling a second-hand vehicle after reducing the reading on the milometer.

DIRECTOR of Consumer Affairs Carmel Foley yesterday welcomed the first prosecution of a pub for not displaying the price of certain drinks under a new law that allows traders to be fined up to €3,000 for this offence.

PARENTS are being warned about ‘dangerous’ new micro-motorbikes that have claimed the lives of two children in Northern Ireland, as a consumer watchdog fears they are being aimed at children here.

A RING tone company promoting the chart-topping Crazy Frog tune has admitted to heavily overcharging Irish mobile phone users - including children under 16.

CHECK the price, then pick the pub.

The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs has issued guidelines to consumers to recognise and avoid internet money "scams".

Publicans should show some seasonal goodwill and end the post midnight practice of hiking up drink prices in Dublin’s pubs and clubs, according to the Consumers’ Association.

THE financial regulator yesterday defended its internal procedures, after the Competition Authority report into banking found consumers suffered from foot-dragging by regulatory staff.

Consumers were today warned to be vigilant about being charged higher prices for drink at Christmas parties and functions.

AIB could only have been fined a maximum of two days’ profits for its customer charging failures, even if current legislation to penalise banks for overcharging had been in place at the time.

The survey has found that the average price of a litre of petrol at 98.8c had fallen by over one cent, when compared with the ODCA survey of 9 to12 August where the average price was 99.9c.

THE Financial Services Regulator says there may be evidence that AIB officials tried to cover up the bank’s overcharging scandals.

CONSUMER protection should be given top priority by the financial regulator in the wake of the AIB overcharging scandal and the mis-selling of investment products, according to the country’s leading financial expert.

AIB chief executive Michael Buckley has described overcharging on foreign exchange as an ‘administrative cock-up’.

IRELAND’S consumer affairs watchdog secured 14 convictions for breaches of consumer law even though it fielded 39,000 calls from consumers and carried out 5,000 investigations during the year.

RAISING the cap on supermarket size is not in Ireland’s interest and there are other means of achieving more competitive prices that should be implemented instead.

BANK customers should be able to move their accounts to another bank without charge and without having to change account numbers and details, the Consumers Association of Ireland (CAI) has said.