Media & News

An EU survey found that animal welfare is a significant concern for 64% of people. Most people will then be happy to hear that the European Commission recently launched a new animal welfare strategy that aims to provide better protection for animals and also better information for consumers.

The current approach to EU animal welfare is described as piecemeal. The new strategy aims to make regulations more comprehensive. The rules that currently exist on animal welfare are not implemented in the same way by all EU countries, meaning in some, animal welfare standards are poorer than others. It is also planned to develop new rules for better animal welfare standards in animal slaughter and animal transportation. Rules for specific animals will also be introduced, such as sow welfare, and the issue of if specific rules are needed to safeguard the welfare of farmed fish will be investigated. Specific rules already apply on the keeping of calves, pigs, laying hens and broiler hens.

The proposal also includes giving consumers more information on what animal welfare claims made on product labels really mean. The strategy is to be implemented over the next four years.

The primary focus of First Holy Communion according to the Catholic Church is the reception of the Body of Christ for the first time and the continued growth of the spiritual life of the child, but it can also become a bit of a fashion show. This indicates also how the secondary and additional areas of highlight fall. primarily, under the heading of Money! All the pressure of trying to make these sacramental days special for the child can cause parents a lot of financial worry.

The Church is very concerned about the cost issue facing parents and believes that simplicity ought to characterise the social celebration of these sacramental occasions so that their faith significance is not lost. A spokesperson for the Department of Educations said a standardised approach to the arrangements and preparations for Communion, including communion wear, is a matter for individual schools, parents and the local parish to agree upon. Easier said than done.

A survey by the League of Ireland Credit Unions shows that 64% of parents whose child received their First Holy Communion in the past 3 years found that the outfit was the biggest cost. They found that the average spend on a child’s full outfit in 2011 was €465.

Parents can be pestered into buying not only a beautiful dress or suit that may never be worn again, but also shoes, bags and gloves, not to mention hair bands, tiaras, wraps or shrugs. In many places you won’t get much change from €500 for the entire outfit, but there are plenty of more reasonable alternatives if you shop around.

If our current recession has done nothing else it has, to a great degree, reintroduced realism into retail consideration of what is affordable and value for money. So we see a significantly changed set of offerings at decidedly leaner and competitive prices.

High street options

Debenhams offers a price to fit every budget and a wide range of Communion occasionwear available for girls and boys ages 7, 8 and 9 years. Dresses from Pearce II Fionda start at €88 and for boys the Rocha.John Rocha suits start at €84, to complete the look including accessories and shoes the average cost will start at €180 catering for all budgets.

Marks & Spencer has introduced a new Communion range for 2012, which is available now in selected M&S stores acrossIreland.  The Autograph Communion Collection includes four Communion dresses for girls and stylish, sharp suits for the boys. Dresses are priced from just €59 and boys’ suits from €45.

For the first time ever, TK Maxx has launched a new affordable range of Communion dresses available in their 16 stores nationwide. Ranging in price from €26.99 to €54.99, the dresses are available in a variety of styles.

Arnotts have a wide selection of Communion wear in their children’s department on the first floor. As well as high end dresses they have more affordable options in the Stardust range of Communion dresses in three different styles, Adelphi €154, Avril €147  and Trudy €154.

Choice Comment

Though the term ‘shopping around’ is so overused, consumers should spend their money where it is appreciated through realistic value-for-money pricing – within their budget!

Dermott Jewell, Chief Executive of the CAI commented that “Airtricity have announced standing charge increases from April 1 of between €1 and €1.50 per month on every customers bill. They suggest that this relates to the need to recover costs relating to debt management.

Airtricity has 600,000 of which they advise 10% are in arrears. This leaves 535,000 customers who will contribute an average of €1.25 per month in additional charges toward debt management – That calculates to just over €8 Million in a single year before VAT.

We believe explanations are immediately needed to outline just how much debt Airtricity has and we believe that the Minister must intervene here to ascertain the truth behind this outrageous set of increases to a nation struggling to balance their own budgets.

Clearly, if such additional revenues are warranted then we must question the viability of this company under such a challenged cost base. ”

ENDS

The results of a themed inspection have been published by the Central Bank of Ireland. The inspection examined how banks are imposing ‘out-of order’ charges on current accounts. ‘Out-of order’ charges arise when a customer uses the account outside of approved limits. The inspection found that while all charges were within limits approved by the Central Bank a number of concerns were identified with how certain charges were applied.

Three out-of-order charges were examined – surcharge interest, referral/ over limit fees and unpaid item fees - across 300 customer accounts in five banks. The inspection also included an examination of 100 customer complaint files.

The inspection found one bank that applied the minimum amount of surcharge interest of €2.54, even when the amount of surcharge interest accrued on the account was less than €2.54 for the month. Instances were also recorded of banks applying both a referral fee and an unpaid fee when an item was unpaid. Meanwhile one bank was discovered applying a referral fee based on whether sufficient funds were in the current account at the time of presentation of the debit item, as opposed to whether the account was over limit at close of business, as is industry practice.

The Central Bank ruled the above examples to be unfair to consumers and directed the banks to amend their practices and procedures to prevent a recurrence of these fees occurring in such circumstances. It also informed all banks of the findings and requested that they be considered in the context of all current accounts that they offer.

The EU has launched a campaign ‘Choose your Fish’ and is calling on consumers to ‘think sustainable’ when choosing fish. It advises consumers not to simply eat less fish but to make more savvy choices instead. This is in the wake of evidence that 75% EU fish stocks are overfished.

However, knowing which fish species are more sustainable than others is not always obvious to consumers. One tip that doesn’t involve remembering fish species names is looking beyond the common types that most people eat and choosing less exploited fish. Choosing fish that has an environmental label such as the Marine Stewardship Council logo gives assurances the fish has been produced to environmental guidelines.

Like fruit and vegetable produce fish also have a peak supply season. Ask the fishmonger what’s in season as this will be a more sustainable choice. It’s also important to buy fish that have reached their adult size as fish caught too young won’t have been able to reproduce. The fishmonger who knows his business well should also be able to advise you on these and other issues.

The campaign is part of the Common Fisheries Policy reform. For more info see: www.chooseyourfish.eu

Courtesy of our colleagues at Consumer Reports (CR) magazine we commence our 2012 focus on advertising and the wondrous claims and advice it provides to the consumer. Dharmik Market Timing for Traders, in their email to CR outlined how “We want to create the foundation of our collaboration in a common field of interest. You have just entered a financial analysis internet site” where “Our analysis is the result of teamwork. The basis of the analysis is…astrology”. Team members links included articles outlining the analysis techniques e.g. “Do moon phases influence financial markets?”This is likely focused upon the starting theme that interest rates on loans are, generally, sky high!?

2012’s first issue of Consumer Choice, from the CAI, is packed with the latest news and information for consumers. Following the latest in a series of punishing budgets, Consumer Choice publishes its annual income tax guide which outlines the main changes enacted in the December budget. Our five-page guide allows readers to calculate their tax liability in double quick time and is complete with four tax profiles illustrating how the changes affect different types of consumers.

Consumer Choice also takes a look at hire purchase agreements. We explain the implications of a recent High Court decision in relation to the ‘half rule’. We show the savings that financially struggling consumers can make by deciding to end a hire purchase agreement early, rather than waiting for a creditor to terminate the contract.

As always, Consumer Choice delivers the best food & health features. This month, we take a look at the cost of following a special diet. We survey the cost of gluten free and dairy free food products compared to their regular alternatives. According to our survey, consumers who choose dairy free products pay 28% more on average than for regular equivalents. Similarly, consumers who follow a gluten free diet pay a massive 188% more on average than for regular equivalents.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, our lifestyle features this month have a romantic theme. With weddings today costing eye-watering amounts, we how explain brides- and grooms-to-be can cut down on the expense of their big day. And for those consumers who are still playing the dating game, we look at what’s involved with online dating sites where we survey the cost of the main providers in Ireland.

Our product tests this month look at high-end cameras and dishwasher machines. We also bring readers the latest crash test results from the experts at Euro NCAP.

TEST: Euro NCAP

The latest test results from the safety experts at Euro NCAP

TEST: High-end Cameras

Eighteen high-end cameras tested and rated

TEST: Dishwashers

Freestanding, integrated and compact Choice Buy dishwashers

Income Tax Guide 2012

Help and advice on calculating your tax liability

Hire Purchase Agreements

The most cost-effective way to end a hire purchase agreement

Costing a Special Diet

The high cost consumers with special dietary requirement must pay

Till Debt Do Us Part?

A look at how to minimise the cost of getting married

Internet Dating

A guide to finding love online

Editors Notes:-

Consumer Choice is published monthly by the Consumers’ Association of Ireland (CAI) limited, a wholly independent, non-government, non-profit making body.

Consumer Choice’s team of dedicated researchers use their expertise to provide subscribers with impartial reporting on household consumer goods, personal finance, automotive, food, health, safety and consumer rights.

Consumer Choice does not carry any advertising. For that reason it can offer readers an unbiased view of all the products and services they review.

Consumer Choice is available through a subscription of €24 per quarter direct from the Consumers’ Association of Ireland, – contact subscriptions at cai@consumerassociation.ie;  www.thecai.ie or call subscriptions on (01) 497 8811.

Reports in Consumer Choice are based on market research, laboratory tests or user surveys, all of which are independently and scientifically conducted. All reports are produced by the editorial staff. Some material is occasionally drawn from other foreign independent consumer magazines.

iPhone 4S [click here]

Read our independent lab test results and review of the latest incarnation of the iPhone, the 4S.

Digital Cameras [click here]

With more manual functions showing up, Consumer Choice explains what you need to know to get the best out of your digital camera. Megapixels used to be the holy grail of the digital camera, but now manufacturers are adding more manual features to tempt consumers. We explain how you can use the main features to improve your photographs. We also bring you the latest results from our lab tests, including twelve Choice Buys.

Small Claims Court [click here]

The CAI was instrumental in the setting up of the Small Claims Court system in Ireland. It is one of the consumer’s greatest weapons against rogue traders. We examine how its process has changed in recent years, and what consumers need to be aware of going forward.

Health Regulators [click here]

Consumer Choice looks at how a range of health professionals are regulated in Ireland.

CLICK HERE TO READ THEM NOW.

The European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC) welcomes the Commission’s proposal for a new Roaming Regulation to be in place for the next 10 years. The proposal aims to tackle the structural problems in the roaming market by separating roaming from national services (decoupling). However, BEUC is concerned that decoupling and guaranteed wholesale roaming access on their own are insufficient tools and therefore price regulation remains necessary in order to achieve a roaming-free Europe.

Roaming, in the form we know it, is a clear example of an insufficiently integrated single market. As there is no technical justification for keeping the concept of roaming itself BEUC believes the EU should focus on eliminating the barriers of cross border activities, and take a more proactive approach in abolishing the roaming charges, rather than working on their further development or improvement. This is why they believe that the roaming regulation should be considered only a step in the process, but not a final goal, of leading us to a roaming-free Europe.

The CAI, along with BEUC, is calling on the Commission to focus on eliminating the barriers of cross border activities and take more proactive approach in abolishing the roaming charges.

For those consumers who are concerned about the ethics of what they buy the Ecologist recently published a free guide to what’s not on the label of leading brands, which is available on its website.

The guide highlights ethical, health and nutrition issues it finds with products such as Kellogg’s Nutri-grain bars, Pot Noodle and Lucozade and companies such as Nivea and Colgate.

The issues it has with Nutri-grain bars include that the product packaging states there’s wholesome ingredients in every bar, while taking a closer look at the label reveals the bar is only 8% fruit and 34% cereal, with the rest made up of fillers, such as sugar, fat and bulking agents. It is also critical of some of the ingredients used in Nivea products, such as oestrogenic parabens, contact allergens and penetration enhancers, which can trigger allergic reactions with repeated exposure.

While there’s good information in the guide for consumers who do have ethical concerns, it also comes with a heavy dose of advertising. Free publications are often used as an avenue for advertising and the guide is also filled with ads for eco alternatives. If that’s your cup of tea the guide might be of interest. However for many consumers the price of eco products may be outside their budget’s reach. When we surveyed the cost of buying eco-friendly products against non-ecological alternatives we found that they cost consumers an average of 60%. For more on labelling, and to find out what rules food manufacturers must follow when labelling the quantity of key ingredients in their products, turn to page 403 of the December/January issue of Consumer Choice.

New research suggests that credit card users are likely to pay less towards their debt if their monthly bills display information about the minimum amount required. The research, published in the Journal of Marketing Research found that including the minimum required payment information on their credit card statements can reduce the amount they pay towards their bill by as much as 24%.

The CAI has been campaigning for a change in the way consumers are presented with information in their monthly credit card bills. As it currently stands, lenders only provide consumers with the minimum monthly amount they must pay towards their bill. However, what most consumers don’t realise is that paying just this amount guarantees they will remain in debt to the bank for several years, even for relatively small outstanding amounts. Take the example of an outstanding credit card balance of €1,000 which is being charged at an 18% interest rate. By making a minimum payment amount of €25 per month on this balance, it will take a massive nine years and eight months to get back to zero and cost over €900 in interest.

The CAI believes new rules should be introduced compelling banks to clearly set out to consumers exactly how long it will take to clear a credit card balance by making the minimum payment alone. We have written to the Minister of Finance requesting that he obliges banks to do this and we will continue to lobby strongly until it become a reality.

Did you know that… The consumerisation of Christmas is probably best exampled by the tradition of ‘Kentucky Fried-Christmas’ in Japan. On December 23rd, 24th and Christmas Day, lines of local communities can be seen queuing around the locations of KFC outlets across Japan. ‘Chicken Christmas’ was created by marketing experts at KFC in 1974 and is recognised as one of the most significantly successful campaigns in the world. So successful, in fact, that orders are accepted two months in advance in an attempt to meet the incredible demand – which is notably felt on Christmas Eve as opposed to Christmas Day. Turkeys are ecstatic!