---

CCPC wins Homesavers price-display case

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has repeated a call for stronger penalties for breaches of consumer law, after it successfully prosecuted the retail chain Homesavers for breaking price-display laws.

The consumer-protection body had fined the discount group €600 for alleged offences related to price display.

It then took legal proceedings against Homesavers’ owner Centz Stores Ltd after the company failed to pay the fines.

Judge Anthony Halpin applied the Probation Act and ordered Centz Stores to pay €1,501 towards the legal costs of the CCPC, and to make a donation of €200 to the charity Little Flower Penny Dinners.

Inspection

The case followed a CCPC inspection in May 2023 of the Homesavers store in Ennis, Co Clare, where the watchdog identified “several” pricing violations – including failure to display prices or prices displayed in sterling only.

Under EU law, the price of products on sale in Ireland must be displayed clearly in euro.

The CCPC has been calling for more substantial penalties for breaches of consumer-protection law for some time, with chair Brian McHugh recently calling for additional powers at an event to mark the commission’s tenth anniversary.

“When businesses break competition rules, they can be fined; however, different rules apply for those found to have broken consumer-protection laws,” it said in a statement today (13 November).

“Changes to the law are needed to give the CCPC the power to impose large fines for serious offences. This will reduce pressure on the courts and save public money, while improving compliance with consumer-protection law,” it added.