Lesson 5 – Consumer Protection Act 2007
This lesson is designed to be delivered in 40 minutes. Slides can be adjusted or
amended as the teacher sees fit or feels appropriate for the class.
Aims and Objectives
By the end of this class, students will be able to:
 Identify the main elements of the Consumer Protection Act 2007
 Outline the functions, activities and powers of the National Consumer Agency
 Explain, with appropriate examples, instances of misleading claims about
goods, services and prices
 Explain, with appropriate examples, instances of unfair, misleading,
aggressive and specifically prohibited commercial practices
 Role-play a situation highlighting one of the above examples
Materials
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Student worksheet and role play scenarios (to be photocopied prior to class)
Lesson 5 PowerPoint
Introduction
Open Lesson 5 PowerPoint and provide an overview of the material to be covered in
the lesson (Slides 1 & 2)
Slide 3: General introduction to the Consumer Protection Act 2007.
Note to teachers: Currently, the Consumer Information Act 1978 is on the Junior
Certificate and Leaving Certificate syllabi. However, it has been replaced in Irish law
by the Consumer Protection Act 2007. Students should be familiar with the current
legislation. However, when answering exam questions, it is acceptable to refer to the
Consumer Information Act 1978, until such time as a circular is issued to update the
syllabi.
Slide 4: What are the functions of the National Consumer Agency (NCA)?
Note to teachers: the NCA has replaced the Office of Director of Consumer Affairs,
which was established under the 1978 Act
Slide 5: The activities that the NCA carries out on a day-to-day basis.
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Slide 6: Inform the students of the powers that the NCA has to assist it in carrying
out its functions.
Slides 7 - 10: Consumers need to be protected against misleading claims that traders
may make about themselves, their goods, services and prices. Ask students to think
of examples of each of the above, and then display the relevant examples from the
Act on each slide
Slides 11 - 15: The Consumer Protection Act 2007 brings into Irish law EU directives
regarding unfair, misleading or aggressive commercial practices.
Note to teachers: An EU directive requires that member states of the EU must achieve
a particular result, without dictating the means of achieving that result. Directives
normally give member states a certain amount of flexibility as to the exact rules to be
adopted in achieving the desired result, with the Directive being the minimum
requirement.
Explanations and examples of unfair, misleading, aggressive and specifically
prohibited commercial practices are given. Ask students for any other examples
they can think of.
On Slide 11, “unfair practices” is a “catch-all” provision designed to make illegal any
commercial practices that seek to get around existing laws and also scams
On Slide 15 and the final bullet point on "Claiming the business is closing down when
it is not": an example of this was investigated by the NCA where a shop claimed it
was closing down but it was still buying stock to sell.
Slide 16: Summary of the lesson.
Slide 17: Consolidation exercise. Students to complete the “Starburst” graphic
organiser on the “Student Worksheet”. They must write the name of the law in the
box in the centre of the star and write the main elements of the Consumer
Protection Act 2007 at each of the points of the star.
Slide 18: Role-plays. Students to read the three scenarios in the “Role Play
Scenarios” handout. In pairs, they are to plan and perform a short role play based
on one of the scenarios. Each role play should be no longer than one minute. One
or two pairs of students can be chosen to perform the role play in front of the class.
Homework assignment
Students to go to www.ConsumerConnect.ie and to research common consumer
scams that they need to be aware of. Hint: see “Guides and Tips” tab on
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ConsumerConnect.ie website (Home > Guides + Tips > Scams)
http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Hot_Topics/Scams/
List five precautions teenagers should take if they suspect something is a scam (see
Scams & Teenagers subsection within Scams)
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