FIANNA Fail's Consumer Affairs spokeswoman, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, is to raise the Oldfields case in the Dail. Oldfields, which offered a rates consultancy service, abandoned its Dublin offices earlier this week, leaving behind several thousand disgruntled clients, each of whom had paid Oldfields almost £300.

Mrs O'Rourke said she would be "very concerned that hard pressed small businesses would have been taken in". That Oldfields was able to operate within the law, despite the concerns of the Director of Consumer Affairs, showed that there was "a vacuum" in the legislation, Mrs O'Rourke added.

She plans to seek an adjournment debate on the matter. It is thought Oldfields received between £1.5 million and £2.1 million from up to 7,000 Irish companies. Page 5