Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I welcome this opportunity to express my broad support for the Bill. The Bill is a welcome development to ensure arbitration will continue to grow as an alternative to court proceedings in commercial disputes and to facilitate Dublin and Ireland in becoming an international centre for dispute resolution.

A number of proposals in the Bill will improve our existing arbitration law. The UNCITRAL model law on international commercial arbitration which until now had only applied to international arbitration will be extended to domestic arbitration. The process of streamlining Irish law with international standards is a welcome development and we will be supporting that element of it. The provisions in section 32 which provide for additional grounds for the High Court to set aside arbitral awards in domestic arbitrations are welcome. The new grounds to set aside an arbitral award where there is a fundamental error of law or in case of unfair procedure are a necessary extension to ensure parties in commercial arbitration have proper recourse to the courts.

Some of the criticisms of the arbitration process such as it being costly and cumbersome have been addressed in the Bill. Section 10 which provides that the High Court will not make any order for security for costs and an order of discovery, unless agreed by the parties, should have the effect of avoiding unnecessary costs. I certainly hope that is the case.

The section dealing with consumer arbitration deserves careful consideration. While arbitration is well established in the travel and motor trades, as mentioned by the previous speaker, through bodies such as the Society of the Irish Motor Industry and the tour operators holiday package scheme, in other areas alternative dispute resolution is in its infancy. It is widely acknowledged that there can be great inequality in bargaining power in consumer contracts. Dispute resolution is often chosen by the company whereas the consumer is likely to have a limited knowledge of the process of alternative resolution. For these reasons, consumers need added protection to ensure consumer arbitration procedures are fair, effective and expeditious.

I support the proposal that provides for the mechanism, whereby arbitrators shall state a case to a court on a question of law and for an arbitral award to be remitted if new evidence emerges. I also support section 30(2) which deems an arbitration term as an unfair term under the European Communities (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations 1995 and 2000 if it has not been individually negotiated by the parties. However, I am concerned about the limitation of its application to claims under the Small Claims Court threshold of €2,000. I support the previous speaker's comments in that regard. All arbitration terms in consumer contracts should be deemed unfair if they have not been individually negotiated by the parties and a consumer should only be bound by an arbitration clause after a dispute has arisen. It should be possible for consumers in smaller transactions to choose arbitration in the aftermath of a dispute. This would ensure consumers could make an informed decision to proceed through the courts or in the alternative to pursue any claim through proper dispute resolution bodies. I will, therefore, be recommending an examination of the wording of section 30(1).

With more than 700 members in the Irish branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, it is clear that businesses are choosing arbitration as an alternative to court proceedings. It is necessary that arbitration law in Ireland provide a clear, decisive and effective process. The provisions in the Bill, by and large, will succeed in doing this. There will also be considerable economic and tourism benefits if Dublin becomes a major centre of dispute resolution.

While I support the Government's commitment in developing the State as a global venue for international arbitration through reform of our arbitration law, there are other important elements for attracting international arbitration to the State which have been undermined to a degree by the Government and to which attention should be drawn. Colm Ó hOisín, chairman of the Bar Council arbitration and alternative dispute resolution committee, identified in an article in The Irish Times our neutrality as an advantage for the State as a third country in international arbitration disputes. The Taoiseach emphasised our neutrality when addressing the International Council for Commercial Arbitration 2008 conference at the beginning June. Clearly, the promotion of our neutrality is an attractive feature for businesses from non-aligned countries such as India. However, the Government's support for US military aeroplanes landing at Shannon Airport and enhanced defence co-operation in Europe undermines this assertion. If we are to make a convincing case and use our neutrality to attract international dispute arbitration to Dublin, we must have an unambiguous position. My party will continue to call for a halt in the use of Shannon Airport by the US military in its war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. We will also oppose any development of a common EU military policy through European treaties. The development of international dispute resolution illustrates that our neutrality is something that can benefit us both politically and economically. It is the responsibility of the Government to safeguard our neutrality, not to undermine it. While I broadly welcome many of the proposals in the Bill, the Government must also re-engage with our policy of neutrality if this is to be recognised as a genuine neutral third country venue for international dispute resolution.

To some degree, the process of recognising Ireland as a potential arbitrator in disputes has commenced. There have been instances where people from the State have been invited to meet parties abroad. There is strong recognition internationally of Ireland's potential to play a significant role in this regard, not least following what we hope will be a successful resolution of our own differences and disputes on the island and with our neighbouring island, Britain. I hope this can be built upon. We have seen significant progress this week in further building on the Irish peace process. We look forward to developing its potential to ensure we maximise the benefit, not just for the sake of building an economic advantage for Ireland, but also in achieving world peace, clearly a laudable objective that goes beyond any economic desire we might legitimately have. I hope the potential can be tapped into through the introduction of the Bill. While some of its provisions cause me concern, nevertheless I welcome it as a useful step forward. I look forward to discussing it on Committee Stage.

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