IRELAND’S CONSUMER WATCHDOG has said JD Sports is to honour over 5,000 expired vouchers worth almost €250,000.

Under gift voucher legislation introduced in Ireland in December 2019, gift vouchers must be valid for at least five years. However, since the legislation was introduced, gift cards bought online from JD Sports were issued with a one-year expiry date.

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said it has now secured an undertaking from the multinational sportswear retailer to return almost €250,000 in unspent gift card credit to Irish shoppers.

JD sports will reissue 5,604 gift cards where a balance of €10 or more was cancelled on expiry of the card. The affected gift cards were all bought online between late 2019 and late 2025.

The retailer has until 4 January 2027 to contact all affected consumers and re-issue their gift cards.

In a statement, the CCPC said that when it contacted John David Sports Fashion (Ireland) Limited, trading as JD Sports, the retailer “admitted the error and offered to immediately take steps to remedy the losses” to Irish consumers.

“JD Sports has calculated the expired value of the cards to be re-issued at €246,859,” the CCPC said.

“JD Sports noted that the majority of gift vouchers sold by the company in Ireland had the correct expiry date applied with affected cards representing a very small percentage of the total.”

A JD Group spokesperson said: “Earlier this year, it was brought to our attention that a small number of gift cards purchased online between December 2019 and December 2025 in Ireland incorrectly displayed a 12-month use period, rather than the 60-month period required under Irish consumer law.”

It is understood that over 97% of all gift cards issued in Ireland were not impacted.

“This issue was limited to certain gift cards purchased online and did not affect gift cards purchased in our stores. We apologise to those affected and have started the process of contacting customers to offer them a replacement,” the spokesperson said.

“Our customers are our number one priority, and we recognise that on this occasion we fell short of the standards our customers rightly expect. We’re grateful to those who brought the issue to our attention and are pleased to have worked constructively with the CCPC to resolve this for our customers.”

Brian McHugh, CCPC Chairperson, said that Ireland has “stricter gift voucher rules than neighbouring jurisdictions”.

“This case shows why consumers need that extra time to spend gift vouchers. Customers of JD Sports lost out on almost a quarter of a million euros when their gift vouchers expired after only 12 months.”

“JD Sports cooperated fully with the CCPC, and we were glad to be able to move quickly to resolve the issue and confirm this positive outcome for consumers.”