Unscrupulous traders face stiff fines, jail terms and public "naming and shaming" under new consumer legislation due before the Oireachtas next week.
Under the Consumer Protection Bill, traders who mislead consumers could face fines of up to €60,000 or 18 months in jail. Those involved in pyramid selling schemes face penalties of up to €150,000 and five years' imprisonment.
Courts will be given the power to order offenders to pay compensation to consumers and to require them to publish corrective statements.
The Bill, which was published yesterday by Minister for Enterprise and Employment Micheál Martin, provides a statutory basis for the National Consumer Agency and gives it the power to impose on-the-spot fines on errant traders and to order compliance with regulations.
Mr Martin said it would replace much of the existing consumer law with an up-to-date statute providing consumers with the highest level of protection in their dealings with business. The NCA would be given a wide range of enforcement powers to ensure that all businesses complied with their obligations to consumers.
"The principal function of the National Consumer Agency will be to promote and protect the interests and welfare of consumers. It will do that through enforcing the relevant provisions of the Bill and encouraging compliance with them. However, it is also being given a range of powers to ensure that it can be a powerful advocate on behalf of consumers in policymaking and in public debate."
Although the Bill provides for stringent penalties where traders are convicted of serious offences in court, most offences are likely to be dealt with summarily. In these minor cases, the penalties are €3,000 and/or six months in jail for a first offence.
The NCA will be required to publish lists of traders who have breached consumer law. "The adverse publicity of a name-and-shame policy can often be a more effective deterrent than a court-imposed fine and this Bill leaves offenders no hiding place in that respect," said Mr Martin.
The Bill, which starts its passage through the Oireachtas in the Seanad next week, may become law by Easter, according to the Minister. However, the Oireachtas is facing a busy programme in the coming months and if the Bill fails to pass into law before the election, it will fall.
Labour, while welcoming the Bill, warned that it was unlikely to be enacted before the election. Consumer affairs spokeswoman Kathleen Lynch said the party would be tabling amendments to ensure the highest level of protection for consumers.
NCA executive chair Ann Fitzgerald welcomed the Bill: "For too long, the valid needs of consumers in Ireland have taken second place to those of well-resourced industry interests. This imbalance will be redressed through the new legislation."
There are three main elements to the new legislation: the repeal and replacement of nine existing laws dating as far back as 1887; the transfer of the functions of the Office of the Director of Consumer Affairs to the NCA; and the transposing into Irish law of the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive.
The NCA is scheduled to move to Cork in the next 18 months under the Government's decentralisation scheme but few of the existing staff of the ODCA are expected to make the move.