Dooley calls for swift action on collapse of holiday website

Published on: 20 July 2012


Fianna Fáil Spokesperson on Transport, Tourism and Trade, Timmy Dooley TD, has called on Minister Leo Varadkar to intervene after on-line travel company selfcatering.ie went out of business.

Deputy Dooley commented: “We have seen a growing trend of on-line trading companies going bust over the last number of months, but the problem is there seems to be no recourse for clients.

“It appears that selfcatering.ie has all of a sudden ceased trading and customers who have pre-paid for their holidays will be out of pocket. I am calling on Minister Varadkar to regulate the on-line booking business because some companies appear to operate in a haphazard fashion. Funds need to be made available to protect those who may have lost their hard earned money and now have nothing to fall back on. New legislation is needed in this area with compulsory insurance and a bonding mechanism to give some form of security to customers.

“Thousands of families may lose out on their pre-paid holidays, which is not acceptable. The collapse has the potential to damage Ireland’s reputation in on-line booking and swift action is needed by the Minister.

“This will be of little consolation to the holiday-makers who booked with selfcatering.ie. The company has a moral obligation to do all in its power to ensure their customers are compensated fully or arrange with other holiday companies that the holidays booked are honoured .

“We are nearly in the busiest month of the holiday season and Irish holiday makers need to be protected against this kind of situation happening.”

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