A public consultation to examine gift voucher fees has been launched, Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor has said.

The Government has agreed to enact new legislation for a minimum lifespan of five years for gift vouchers.

Under the new proposals the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, will have power to make regulations to set fees for the issue and replacement of gift vouchers, and for inactive balances on gift vouchers. These are commonly referred to as dormancy or maintenance fees.

The purpose of the public consultation is to gather information and views on gift voucher fees to assist the Minister in deciding on the level of fees, if any, that should apply. The first part of the consultation paper seeks the inputs of consumers on gift voucher fees and the second part seeks the inputs of businesses.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor said: “Gift vouchers are widely used in Ireland and are popular because people assume they are transparent, but without laws to regulate them. This has been a grey area for too long. These proposals are about making things black and white.

“With a solid regulatory foundation, we will see greater transparency with the fees on gift vouchers as well as a minimum lifespan of five years.

“The public consultation document and information can be found on https://dbei.gov.ie/en/Consultations/Public-Consultation-on-gift-voucher-fees-and-expiry-dates.html and I urge as many people around the constituency as possible to have their say.”

“We have a tradition of giving vouchers as gifts, with intention that the recipient will benefit from the full value of the voucher, and often both purchaser and recipient are unaware of short expiry periods. I want to thank my Cabinet colleague Minister Heather Humphreys for taking the lead on this,” Minister Mitchell O’Connor said.

Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys said: “In some cases, fees of up to €3 per month are applied to gift vouchers after a year. In effect, this means that a voucher for €25 can be worthless after 20 months. It seems clear that many consumers who receive gift vouchers are not aware of these fees.

“Understandably, consumers feel they should be able to redeem gift vouchers at their full face value, however, the businesses applying these fees claim that they are essential to meet the costs involved.

“I want to get the widest possible range of views on these issues. I would urge consumers, businesses and anyone else with an interest in this matter to respond to the consultation by the closing date of 31 August 2018.”