Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

What has been established under existing law is such that we do not extend the Ombudsman's jurisdiction to the types to which the Deputy refers. Corporates are corporates and the ultimate independent arbitrators in disputes are the courts. The objective is to protect the small trader. If one were to extend the power as far as desired, there would be a financial cost that could prove very difficult to meet. We are going down the route of independent arbitration and adjudication in respect of a range of disputes but mostly for small traders. We have not built in the corpus of law an arbitration arrangement to cover every eventuality. That would have implications for business.