Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 17:

In page 63, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:

74.—Order 53A of the District Court Rules, 1997 (S.I. No. 410 of 2001) is amended—

(a) in Rule 1, by the substitution in the definition of "small claim" of "€10,000" for "€1,269.74",

(b) in Rule 3, by the substitution of "€10.00" for "€9.00", and

(c) in Rule 7, by the substitution of "€10.00" for "€9.00".

This amendment proposes to alter the District Court rules to give more business to the Small Claims Court. It would devolve some of the issues that would arise from consumer protection to a court less onerous in terms of costs. There is a case to be made for increasing the limits for the Small Claims Court to ensure there would be more consumer protection interaction with it in a less expensive environment. I included a figure for purposes of discussion.

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