Banks are engaged in ripping off customers to the tune of €90 million this year by hiking up interest rates on loans and overdrafts by an extra 1% above the European market rate, according to Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD.

“Even worse, this rip-off started just after taxpayers were asked by the Government to guarantee Irish bank deposits,” Deputy Varadkar said.

“The rip-off is revealed in a Fine Gael analysis of interest rates charged by Irish banks for overdrafts and personal loans since 2006. Irish interest rates broadly tracked the standard European market rate, the Euribor, between August 2006 and August 2008.

“But since the Government bank guarantee was introduced, Irish rates have shot up by at least 1% on top of the Euribor rate. Someone with a car loan of €20,000 will therefore be paying an extra €200 a year in interest payments.
…[more]

FG research suggests banks are increasing, not decreasing margins

Further evidence of rip-off activities by banks have emerged after a Fine Gael analysis revealed they have increased dramatically the amount of money they make on loans and overdrafts since the State bank guarantee was introduced last September.

Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD said his analysis revealed that the cost of business borrowing from Irish banks increased dramatically, and in some cases more than doubled, between September 2009 and last January, according to new Central Bank statistics. This increase happened after two years of relative stability.

Deputy Varadkar is calling on Finance Minister Brian Lenihan to call on the banks to cut margins and ensure an affordable flow of credit to businesses. …[more]

As you’ll see from the press release below, I launched a policy document on Fine Gael’s consumer policy today. The document in full is available here in pdf format, and I put the executive summary of it beneath the fold.

The main points of the document are

1. Reversing measures in Budget 2009 which are driving up prices, including the VAT increase to 21.5% and transport fares;
2. Freezing Government charges and local authority rates and levies in order to reduce business costs;
3. An immediate review of electricity and gas prices;
4. Abolishing surcharges for payments by credit card, debit card and direct debit, and abolishing expiry dates for shopping vouchers;
5. Utility regulators will have to publish a detailed case for every proposed price increase, and hold public hearings. Consumers will have the right to petition regulators to review prices;
6. A new arbitration system for disputes between consumers and businesses, and increase the threshold in the Small Claims Court to €12,000;
7. Extended breaks in services such as electricity, multi-channel TV or telephone will have to be refunded;
8. Merge the National Consumer Agency and Competition Authority into an Irish Fair Trading Authority (IFTA);
9. IFTA will have real powers, including monitoring tax and excise, and ensuring that currency fluctuations are passed on to consumers;
10. Government and public bodies shall give a reasoned response to IFTA recommendations. …[more]

New proposals to tackle the high cost of living and strengthen consumer rights have been published by Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD. They include an immediate review of electricity and gas prices, a ban on surcharges for all payments by ‘plastic’, and a freeze on Government charges.

Speaking at the launch of Finding Real Value today, Deputy Varadkar said: ‘In the midst of the deepest recession in a generation, consumers are left wondering why the cost of living is still so high. Rip-off Ireland is still a fact of life. Prices in Ireland are still much higher than the UK and the rest of Europe. Electricity and gas prices bear no relation to international rates. The high cost of goods and services are hurting consumers and families in their pockets’. …[more]

As minds turn from festive celebrations to New Year’s resolutions, consumers are in danger of being ripped off by unfair terms and conditions written into fitness centre contracts, Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has warned.

“The New Year period is the peak time for gyms and fitness centres to sign up new members as people seek to make up for over-indulgence over the Christmas period. Last October, the National Consumer Agency published guidelines for fair contracts in fitness centres. Some major operators such as Jackie Skelly and the Ben Dunne Fitness Group have changed their contracts in response to the new guidelines. Many other operators have not. …[more]

Last night saw the opening of a Fine Gael debate on consumer issues. As Fine Gael’s spokesperson in this area, I led the debate, and will conclude it tonight. Please find my contribution to the debate below. The transcript is not up on the OIreachtas website yet, but I’ll add it when it is.

Two thirds of Consumer Strategy Group recommendations still not implemented Ireland is now deep in recession. More than 100,000 people have lost there jobs and many more will lose their jobs in 2009. Real incomes for most people are stagnant and for most, take-home pay will fall next year as a consequence of the tax increases introduced in the Budget.

Inflation is starting to fall and is likely to fall further. However, with household budgets feeling the pinch, issues such as rip-off, value for money and consumer protection are now more important than ever. It is in this context that I move the motion which says:

That Dáil Éireann:

• Notes with concern that inflation in Ireland remains higher than the Eurozone average and noting in particular the ex-tax price of diesel, petrol and home heating oil is 10% to 20% higher than the EU average.

• Notes the Government’s failure to rein in price increases created directly by Government departments (eg prescription charges, accident and emergency, school transport and hospital charges) or sanctioned by regulators (eg the Commission for Energy Regulation, the Taxi Regulator and the National Roads Authority), and concerned at the impact that these increases will have on consumers and notes with concern that many consumers are travelling to Northern Ireland or overseas to purchase goods and services

And calls on the Government to:

• Reverse the decision to increase the higher rate of VAT in the Budget;

• Freeze Government charges and levies imposed on business and consumers;

• Require regulatory organisation to hold public hearings prior to the decision on price increases and outlaw surcharges imposed by retailers on credit cards, debit cards and e-payments.

…[more]

FG Dáil Motion will reduce cost of living & strengthen consumer protection

The Government should lower VAT and freeze Government stealth taxes, according to Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD, who was announcing a Fine Gael Private Members’ Motion which will be debated in the Dáil tomorrow and Wednesday.

Calling on Government TDs to back the Motion in the interests of consumers, Deputy Varadkar said: “As Ireland slips deeper into recession, tens of thousands of people are likely to join the dole queues and millions will experience a fall in their income as a consequence of lower pay and tax increases. Ensuring value for money for consumers is now more important than ever.

“The Fine Gael motion calls for:

• The reversal of the Government’s decision to increase VAT;
• The freezing of Government charges and local authority levies imposed on business and consumers;
• A requirement that utility regulators should hold public hearings on price increases and publish the formula they use to decide on prices;
• A ban on surcharges imposed on people use credit cards and debit cards to pay their bills. …[more]

For more than a year, successive Ministers for Enterprise, Trade and Employment – Ministers Martin and Coughlan – have first procrastinated, then hidden behind European Law in refusing to bring into force legislation which would ban credit card surcharges says Fine Gael Spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Leo Varadkar TD. An answer provided by the European Commission to Fine Gael, however, confirms that there is no obstacle to banning such charges. This completely contradicts Minister Coughlan’s assertion that it was European Law which prevented her from acting on the matter.

“Credit card surcharges are an unjust and unfair charge on consumers. There is next to no transparency on such charges, they are frequently only added in at the end, and are quite simply a rip-off. Failure to outlaw these unjust charges, from anyone who puts consumers first, is inexplicable. …[more]

The Minister in charge of tackling Ireland’s rip-off retailers, Tánaiste Mary Coughlan, still hasn’t met with five of the country’s largest supermarket chains, one month after Taoiseach Brian Cowen made his now-famous remark to: ‘Bring in those people and get a handle on it…you know all those f***ers’.

Minister Coughlan was responding to Dáil questions on rip-off prices from Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD.

“The Tánaiste has admitted under questioning that she has not had any face-to-face discussions with Dunnes, Superquinn, Lidl, Aldi or Spar about the retail rip-off scandal. Four weeks after the Taoiseach told her to hold face-to-face meetings industry representatives, the only supermarket official Minister Coughlan has met is from Tesco. …[more]

Fine Gael Enterprise Spokesman Leo Varadkar TD has asked the Chairman of the Oireachtas Enterprise & Small Business Committee to investigate the rising cost of food, groceries and other consumer goods.

Deputy Varadkar, who is a member of the Committee, has also asked its Chairman to highlight the growing discrepancy between sterling and euro prices in British-owned multiples. …[more]