Gift cards will now be valid for five years under new legislation which will come into effect on Monday.
A raft of changes announced by Minister for Business and Enterprise Heather Humphreys will improve rights for consumers who buy or receive gift vouchers.
The new law will see a ban on consumers being forced to spend the full value of the voucher in one transaction while retailers can’t refuse the use of two gift cards in a single transaction.
Airlines will also no longer be able to refuse a voucher if the name on it is different to the name on the passport of the person travelling.
Minister Humphreys said: “I am very pleased to be able to bring the five-year expiry date and a number of other important protections for consumers into effect from Monday.
“I am particularly pleased to do so at the start of the Christmas period when many of us will buy or receive gift vouchers.
“Some businesses have required consumers to spend a voucher in full in a single transaction.
“This meant if you have a restaurant voucher for €100 and your meal came to €80, you were prevented from getting change or a voucher with the balance of €20.
“Cases have also been brought to my attention where consumers have had vouchers cancelled by airlines where their name as given on their passport differed even slightly from their name as given by the friend or relative who bought the gift voucher for them.
“The businesses that used these kind of contract terms to deprive consumers of the full benefit of gift vouchers should not have been doing so, and from Monday they will no longer be able to make unfair gains at the expense of Irish consumers.”
Ireland is the first European country to enact legislation protecting Irish consumers on gift vouchers.
However, some consumers may be disappointed that the practice whereby the balance of an unused voucher reduces year by year is not being outlawed.
Speaking on RTE’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, Minister Humphreys said she wanted to introduce the measure but the Attorney General advised against it.
And said that she was unable to tackle the issue of fees applying to some gift vouchers, such as One-4-All cards, due to the Electronic Money Directive.
She said she attempted to ban those fees but could not “contravene EU law.”
It is estimated that every year consumers in Ireland lose millions in unredeemed or expired vouchers.
