HMV will be honouring valid vouchers and gift cards when it re-opens next week. Four HMV branches in Dublin and Limerick are reopening by the end of next week after the company went into administration at the start of the year.

Around 120 new staff members have already been recruited. Around 70 of them have been given to original employees of the chain which went into administration in January.

Units at the Crescent Shopping Centre in Limerick and at Dundrum and Liffey Valley Shopping Centres in Dublin - as well as the store on Henry Street in the city centre - should now re-open by the end of the first week in September. Hilco bought and restructured the Irish stores and will reopen an initial 4 of the 16 original stores within the next fortnight.

The National Consumer Agency (NCA) has welcomed the decision by the new HMV parent company.

Representatives of the NCA had been in discussions with the receivers of HMV on behalf of consumers and will now meet with Hilco this week.

Karen O'Leary is Chief Executive of the NCA.

"We welcome the decision by Hilco. The company is acting honourably and is treating consumers very fairly in accepting vouchers and gift cards issued by the previous owners of HMV" she said.

"It is very difficult to get a gift voucher honoured if a store closes down, as a claim has to be registered with the liquidator and any claim will only be considered after all other creditors have been paid, such as banks the shop's staff. It is for this reason that we encourage consumers with gift vouchers for an individual retailer to use them as quickly as possible" she added.