Labour leadership candidate and Co Tipperary TD Alan Kelly has called for consumer protection rules to be used to stop people from exploiting public concern over the coronavirus.
Referring to instances of restocked items such as hand sanitiser and protective face masks shooting up in price, Deputy Kelly has called for laws that can tackle this type of profiteering to be enforced.
He points out that parts of the Consumer Protection Act can allow for the fixing of a maximum price for some products ‘during a state of emergency’.
‘We should look at implementing this now for designated lists of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and over the counter medication where required’, he said.
He has also called on representative bodies such as the Irish Pharmacy Union and RGDATA to demand that their members act responsibly in response to public concerns about Covid-19, ‘and that price hikes for essential medical items that people need like paracetamol won’t be needlessly increased in the coming days and weeks’.
