Minister seeks heftier sanctions for consumer law breaches

Tourism Minister John O’Donoghue has said he would like to see the courts imposing heftier sanctions on retailers who breach consumer protection regulations.

Yesterday, the Director of Consumer Affairs successfully prosecuted a pub and two shops for failing to display prices as required by law.

The two shops were fined €1,000 and €750 respectively, while the pub was fined €150.

Speaking about the matter today, Mr O'Donoghue said the activities of these retailers was harming Irish tourism.

"I would like to see courts being empowered to ensure that people who commit offences like these receive a sanction commensurate with the offence and, in my opinion, the offence is quite serious because it does down a really important industry," he said.