I commend the Minister for attending the House because this is a difficult and topical issue. Irish consumers are, by and large, well protected from unscrupulous trading and commercial practices. The Consumer Information Act, , and the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act, , have given them considerable protection and provide for redress where a consumer is dissatisfied with a product or service. The Director of Consumer Affairs and the Consumers' Association of Ireland Limited play an invaluable role in representing and advocating the interests of consumers.
It is clear that the interests of consumers need protecting. Daily we are all faced with competing messages from companies urging us to buy their goods and services and we exercise our freely given right to prefer one supplier or service provider to another. It is important in making these choices that we, as consumers, are not placed under unfair or subtle pressures to influence our decisions. The regime operated by the Advertising Standards Authority plays an important role in ensuring that we are not misled by inaccurate advertising.
In recent months we have seen the re-emergence of marketing promotion involving schools where companies promise to provide free sponsorship of much needed equipment in return for vouchers obtained from the company's outlets. I refer specifically to the Tesco computers for schools promotion. The schools are urged to collect the vouchers and when sufficient vouchers are gathered, the schools exchange them for equipment.
The promotion was launched in February Every school received a pack directly from Tesco which included pre-printed circulars from the school to parents. These were printed on paper carrying the Tesco logo and slogan. Many schools sent these requests to parents, seeking the vouchers. I do not have any difficulty with commercial enterprises, large or small, engaging schools in straightforward sponsorship or promotional activities.
It is commendable that so many companies become involved with schools, through sponsoring competitions, producing educational packs on matters of relevance to the curriculum or placement programmes. However, there is a distinction to be drawn between bona fide sponsorship initiatives and initiatives with strings attached. It is not right that children should put pressure on parents to collect vouchers or tokens from a particular retailer or any other business.
