South Down, Margaret Ritchie SDLP) has called for greater protections for consumers and greater adherence to consumer protection in a debate in Westminster on the fire risk of Whirlpool’s tumble dryers.
Margaret Ritchie said: “Consumers should be able to have the confidence that faulty products that could cause a risk to life or serious injury will be recalled by the manufacturers without delay.
“Reports suggest that this has not been the case with Whirlpool’s tumble dryers, which pose a fire risk. With popular brands such as Hotpoint, Indesit, Swan, Proline and Creda falling under Whirlpool, up to 5.3 million dryers in the UK are thought to be affected by a fault that causes a significant fire risk.
“Whirlpool has resisted calls from Which! to recall affected models and have failed to repair and replace affected machines in a timely fashion. This is all the more infuriating for consumers given that they are being told not to use their tumble dryers. A tumble dryer is a significant expense for families and to be left without a working one causes significant inconvenience.
“The issues with Whirlpool’s handling of this safety issue epitomises the wider weaknesses of product safety systems. The system must be reformed as soon as possible in the next Parliament. If returned to serve the people of South Down, I will be pursuing this issue to ensure consumers can be fully confident that they can use the products in their homes safely,” added Ms Ritchie.
