Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says there hasn't been any formal Government decision on the issue of airline vouchers and refunds - despite Ireland having signed a letter to the European Commission calling for a temporary change to consumer laws.
It emerged yesterday that a dozen EU member states had written to the Commission calling for airlines to be allowed "choose the means by which passengers are reimbursed" during the coronavirus crisis.
Under EU law, customers are entitled to a cash refund for any cancelled flights.
However, the statement's signatories said they believe that "regulating the temporary issuance of vouchers is possible and acceptable for consumers" and would help protect airlines that are experiencing cash flow difficulties due to the widespread grounding of flights.
The issue was raised in the Dáil today by RISE TD Paul Murphy.
Putting your questions to Varadkar https://t.co/GSul9UHoFs
— Paul Murphy 🏳️⚧️ (@paulmurphy_TD) April 30, 2020
He said: “The Irish Government has now taken the side of the airlines, and pushed for the European Commission to scrap normal consumer rights and allow airlines off the hook.
“Instead of refunds, you want the airlines to be able to keep the cash and issue vouchers instead - effectively bailing out the airlines with the consumers’ money.”
In his response, Leo Varadkar said the law hadn't changed - prompting Deputy Murphy to say he found it "hard to believe" that the Taoiseach didn't know of the letter sent to the European Commission.
Mr Varadkar responded: “The Government hasn’t taken any formal position on the issue of vouchers or refunds... there may be something at Department level, so I have to check that.
“I doubt any law could be changed retrospectively - I could be wrong about that, but I’ve never come across anyone changing consumer law retrospectively… it could be changed prospectively.”
Deputy Murphy has now called for clarity on the situation, asking whether it was a "solo-run" by Transport Minister Shane Ross.
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach defended the Government’s approach to the crisis to date, saying the COVID-19 unemployment payments and wage subsidy schemes represent a "very big bailout of people and workers" rather than businesses.
However, he said: “We do have to be practical about this - I don’t want to see airlines fail, whether they're publicly owned or privately owned… I want to see Aer Lingus and Ryanair operate some time later in the summer, some time in August.
“I wouldn’t want us to be in a situation where we have to bail out airlines because they failed.”
