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Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, link , Consumer Sales and Guarantees Directive, Article 1

On 22 April 2022, the Government published and introduced into Parliament the Consumer Rights Bill 2022

which, in Part 2, sets out a proposed statutory framework that seeks

• to repeal existing consumer legislation on consumer sale of goods (namely, the European Communities (Certain Aspects of the Sale of Goods and Associated Guarantees) Regulations 2003, (S.I. No. 11/2003)) which transposed Directive 1999/44 into Irish law);

• to disapply certain provisions from the Sale of Goods Acts 1893 and 1980; and

• to transpose Directive 2019/771 on certain aspects concerning contracts for the sale of goods.

In line with the maximum harmonising nature of Directive 2019/771, the Consumer Rights Bill 2022 seeks to utilise certain options and discretions left to member states. In doing so, the Bill provides that:

• the sale of second-hand goods sold at public auction and the sale of living animals are included within its scope;

• consumers have a right to terminate the sales contract where the trader has no right to sell (s.14);

• traders must ensure that goods are free from charges and other encumbrances (s.16);

• any offers, description or advertisements about spare parts and an adequate after-sales service form part of the subjective conformity requirements (s.17(4));

• goods must be fit for all the purposes for which goods of the same kind would normally be used as part of the objective conformity requirements (s.18(1)(a));

• the requirements around the right to sell, the subjective conformity requirements and the objective conformity requirement are to have effect as implied terms of the sales contract (s.20);

• there is no obligation on the consumer to notify a lack of conformity within two months of detecting any lack of conformity;

• instead of a 2-year liability period, the duration of the liability of the trader is measured with reference to a standard six-year limitation period (s.21);

• the duration of the period for the reversal of the burden of proof for a lack of conformity of the goods is extended to one-year (s.22);

• consumers have a short-term right to terminate the contract, typically within 30 days of delivery of the goods (ss.23-24)

• in addition to the primary remedies of repair, replacement, price reduction and final termination of the contract, further remedies are available to the consumer, such as, withholding payment (s.32), and damages (s.34);

• where the consumer exercises the final right to terminate, the reimbursement of the price may be reduced in proportion to any depreciation in the goods in excess of the depreciation which could reasonably be expected to result from their normal use s.30(3).