Dáil Éireann - Volume 265 - 16 May, 1973

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Pyramid Sales.

5. Mr. Lemass asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the prospects which people who have suffered serious financial loss as a result of having been hoaxed by pyramid sales promoters have of securing compensation under the law or by Government intervention.

Mr. Keating: The question whether people who may have suffered loss as a result of pyramid selling schemes can obtain legal redress is one for their legal advisers. There is no prospect of compensation being secured through Government intervention.

Mr. Lemass: I understood the Minister to say to me last week in reply to some supplementary questions that, if I would table this question, he would give me a comprehensive answer. In effect he is saying that he will not do anything about it at all.

[1194] Mr. Keating: I said I would give the Deputy an answer if he tabled a question. He tabled the question and that is the answer.

Dr. O'Connell: Has the Minister any power to take action against particular companies who are operating here?

Mr. Keating: I have not got power at this time to ban them, but the evolution of the situation is being continuously watched. If I am satisfied that, as a result of initiatives in Britain, they wish to transfer their operations here, or they become a serious threat, I will certainly seek power to do so.

Dr. O'Connell: Is the Minister aware that there is a particular company operating here at the moment?

Mr. Keating: I am aware that there is more than one company operating at the moment. They are under continuous and close surveillance.

Mr. Lemass: Why did the Minister give a much more comprehensive reply to a Deputy in his own benches than he gave to me?

An Ceann Comhairle: Question No. 6.

Mr. Andrews: Would the Minister ask his colleague, the Minister for Justice, to get the Garda Fraud Squad to examine these companies with a view to getting them out of the country as quickly as possible?

Mr. Keating: I will certainly convey the Deputy's request to my colleague.