Do I Need Website Terms and Conditions in Ireland?
Are T&Cs Legally Required?
Strictly speaking, no Irish law mandates that every website must display terms and conditions. However, if your website sells goods, services, or digital content, trading without T&Cs means that the full statutory defaults under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 and the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 apply. These defaults are generally more favourable to consumers than customised terms would be. In practice, not having T&Cs puts your business at a significant disadvantage.
Additionally, the eCommerce Regulations (SI 68/2003) require online businesses to provide specific information to customers: your business name and address, registration details, pricing (including taxes), delivery costs, and the steps involved in completing a purchase. Most businesses address these requirements through their T&Cs.
The Consumer Rights Act 2022
The Consumer Rights Act 2022 is the most significant consumer protection legislation in recent Irish history. It gives consumers clear rights regarding faulty goods, digital content, and services. For goods, consumers have the right to a repair, replacement, or refund. For digital content, the Act introduces new protections around conformity and updates. For services, there is an implied term that services will be provided with reasonable care and skill.
Your T&Cs should reflect these statutory rights - you cannot contract out of them for consumer sales. But you can clarify how returns are handled, what your process is for refund requests, and how you manage complaints. Without T&Cs, the statutory defaults apply without any additional structure.
Distance Selling: The 14-Day Rule
If you sell to consumers online, the 14-day cooling-off period under the Consumer Rights Directive is one of the most important provisions your T&Cs must address. Consumers can cancel an online purchase within 14 calendar days of receiving the goods (or concluding the service contract) for any reason - no questions asked.
However, there are important exceptions your T&Cs should clearly state: bespoke or personalised goods, sealed goods that have been opened (hygiene products), perishable goods, digital content once downloading has begun (if the consumer gave express consent and acknowledged losing the cancellation right), and services booked for a specific date (accommodation, transport, events).
What Happens Without T&Cs
Without your own T&Cs, several things happen by default. Statutory consumer rights apply in full without any clarification of your processes. There is no agreed limitation on your liability. Intellectual property on your website has no usage restrictions beyond copyright law. There are no agreed terms for user-generated content (reviews, comments). And there is no contractual basis for account suspension or termination.
In short, you lose the ability to set reasonable commercial terms for your business while remaining compliant with consumer law.
What Good T&Cs Should Cover
Effective website T&Cs for an Irish business should cover: what you sell and how purchases work, pricing (including VAT), payment methods and security, delivery and shipping terms, returns and refund policy (reflecting the Consumer Rights Act and distance selling rules), limitation of liability (within legal limits), intellectual property protection for your content, user account terms (if applicable), user-generated content rules (if applicable), governing law (Ireland), and a dispute resolution process.
This is a self-service document generation tool. It does not constitute legal advice. For complex or high-value situations, we recommend consulting a solicitor.