Consumer rights - Government failing to help consumers

THE importance which the Irish Government places on consumer rights can be very simply measured by its representation at a recent conference in Brussels dealing with those same rights.

Not one delegate attended from the Government or the various consumer bodies within our civil service, yet about 85% of the country’s consumer legislation emanates not from the Dáil but from the EU.

Even there — in spite of the preponderance of big business influence — budgetary cutbacks in the area of consumer rights are looming, which means the odds will be more stacked against consumers.

While the head of Europe’s consumer protection division, Commissioner Markos Kyprianou, referred at the conference to consumer pressure from the onslaught of the internet, an overload of information and having to deal with firms beyond national borders, he also pointed to the fact his department faced budget cuts in the future.

Although it is common sense that consumers shop around for the best value, the issue of their rights extends far deeper than merely the price paid for any item.

For instance, since it was established towards the end of last year, the National Consumer Agency (NCA) has received around 6,000 calls, practically one-quarter of them dealing with faulty goods.

Other calls related to uncertainty about euro and sterling pricing, delivery of goods, misinformation, poor servicing, refunds and returns.

Many people simply did not know how to complain to a company or whether, in fact, they had the right to.

In view of the fact that there is an abysmally low recognition by people of their consumer rights — allied to the laissez faire attitude of the Government and the powerful influence of business — the outlook is dismal.

In fact, illustrating the Government’s lack of earnest in this regard, the NCA has yet to be fully established, although it is due to take over from the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs.

According to Dermott Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers’ Association of Ireland (CAI), Ireland was one of those countries which stood out in having failed its consumers by never having adequate levels of support for its national consumer organisations.

Given all those factors, as well as the observation that the consumers’ ultimate protector, Brussels — from where most of the relevant legislation comes from — is facing budgetary constraints, consumers will be forced to become more cognisant of their rights.

One of the ways to ensure this is to make sure the government of the day recognises and prioritises those rights, and the forthcoming election is an opportunity to get the message across very forcibly.

Crossing all class and political boundaries, the consumer lobby collectively has awesome influence, and has the potential to move its rights considerably towards the top of the political ladder.

Ireland is a country of high costs and is lumbered with inflation that is double the European average, with no sign of either abating.

Ireland also has is a political landscape with little difference between the main parties, certainly not on the economy where there’s a consensus of extraordinary health.

Sustaining this cocktail is the consumer, who has the undoubted political muscle to alter the balance, something which should be perceived and understood by those in leadership.