Main laws protecting consumers' rights

The Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs' remit covers two broad areas, consumer protection and consumer credit. The director is responsible for the enforcement of a wide range of consumer protection legislation, including laws on food labelling, consumer safety, unfair contracts terms, deceptive trading practices and price display.

Investigation and prosecution related to consumer complaints may only be pursued when companies are violating existing laws. A selection of these laws are described very briefly below:

Consumer credit: The Consumer Credit Act, 1995 covers credit provided to consumers. One of the requirements is that financial institutions must prominently display annual percentage rates (APR) and notify the director of all customer charges, or adjustments to these fees.

The advertising provision of the Act requires institutions to state clearly the real cost of the credit or the implications of the agreement customers are signing in its advertising.

Goods and services: Consumers who buy or rent goods or services from a trader for private use are protected by the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, 1980. The Act says that when a customer purchases goods or services, he or she has entered into a contract with the seller. Under this contract, consumers are entitled to receive goods of "merchantable quality", which are fit for their purpose. Despite what a shop may say, consumers have a legal right to receive a cash refund if goods do not meet these basic standards.

Consumer information: The Consumer Information Act 1978 and European Communities Misleading Advertising Regulations, 1988 protect consumers against false or misleading claims about goods or services. These statements may be made in any of the following forms: an advertisement, brochure, photograph, illustration or orally by a salesperson.

Unfair terms: The European Commission (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations, 1995 prohibits the use of unfair terms in consumer contracts. The regulations only cover terms which are not individually negotiated and the director may seek a court order prohibiting their use where it is considered that the terms are unfair.

The director is considering a High Court action in relation to unfair terms in house purchase contracts.

Holidays and travel: Consumers who take package holidays are protected by the Package Holiday and Travel Trade Act, 1995. The legislation stipulates that the brochure must contain specific details of the holiday and it must be expressed in easily understood and accurate terms.

Consumers are entitled to compensation for any damage they suffer arising from their reliance on information given in the brochure or in any other descriptive information.

Food labelling: The EU Directive on Food Labelling, 1979 and its recent amendments require that, in general, the labelling of foodstuffs must show the percentage of each ingredient in the product.

Consumer safety: The European General Product Safety Directive became part of Irish law in 1997. It sets specific "safe" standards for products sold in member-states. A recent amendment placed a temporary ban on the sale of toys and childcare articles intended for mouthing by children under three years of age which contain phthalates.

Drink prices: Under the Drinks Display Order, licensed premises must display a 16-item price list, rather than the old nine-item list, at the various entrances to their premises.

Violations of any of these laws may be reported to the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs, 4-5 Harcourt Street, Dublin 2, tel: (01) 4025555, fax: (01) 4025501; or 89-90 South Mall, Cork, tel: (021) 274099, fax: (021) 274109.

The European Consumer Centre website at www.ecic.ie offers excellent advice on consumer-related issues.