Surcharge to stay?

With the Government struggling in the polls just weeks ahead of a general election, it is maybe not the best time for enterprise minister Micheál Martin to row back on popular decision to ban retailers from charging us extra if we use our credit cards yet its looks like that is what he plans to do. A front page story in today’s Irish Times says Martin now wants an assessment of the impact of a ban on credit card surcharges before he goes ahead with it despites the fact that the Consumer Protection Bill which bans the cursed things was signed into law by President Mary McAleese last weekend. The legislation is due to kick in next week - the minister’s cold feet may have something to do with intense lobbying from the travel and telecommunications industries who are quite partial to the charge