Mr. Michael Kilcoyne:

The CAI would like to note that in previous submissions to the Department of Justice and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, it was opposed to any form of US-style class-action collective-redress procedure being introduced in Ireland, as seems to have been envisaged in the Multi-Party Actions Bill 2017. The directive is quite clear that the consumer representative action procedures are not like US class-action litigation. The CAI has never sought or supported US-style class action legal procedures for Irish consumers, as highlighted on many occasions by Mr. Jewell.

Never before in the 56 years of the CAI’s history, or arguably not since we launched the pilot scheme for the small claims court in Ireland, have we been so engaged in trying to bring affordable access to justice to consumers. As members have heard, the CAI is not happy with many aspects of the Bill before the joint committee. We ask that substantial changes be made to it in order that Irish consumers, as of 25 June 2023, can rely on their statutory consumer rights, as described in the directive, and, importantly, deliver the appropriate resources by a truly independent entity to challenge the deep pockets of those who seek, with far too much regularity, to deny consumers their legal and fair entitlements under common law.

We thank the Chairman and members very much for their time and engagement with us today. We look forward to assisting in any way we can with the limited resources we have.