Consumer protection - Legislation pre-empts EU directive

ON the face of it, the comprehensive reform of consumer legislation announced by Enterprise Minister Micheál Martin yesterday certainly is impressive.

Whether it transpires to be effective and practical and to the consumer’s benefit remains to be seen. Whether it lives up to the minister’s effusive description that it will provide the country with “one of the strongest and most modern consumer protections in the world” also remains to be seen.

It is to be hoped that his faith in the Consumer Protection (National Consumer Agency) Bill, which lists 31 different activities to be prevented under all circumstances, will not be misplaced.