Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I intend to publish the Bill early next year. The Bill, which is currently at an advanced stage of drafting, will promote mediation as a viable, effective and efficient alternative to court proceedings, thereby reducing legal costs and speeding up the resolution of disputes. It will introduce an obligation on solicitors and barristers to advise any person wishing to commence court proceedings to consider mediation as a means of resolving the matter before embarking on such proceedings. It will also provide that a court may, following the commencement of any such proceedings, on its own initiative invite parties to consider the mediation option and suspend the proceedings to facilitate such a process.

I am at present giving consideration to the possible inclusion in the legislation of an overarching governance structure for the mediation sector. The Deputy may recall that this matter was raised by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Defence in its constructive report on the general scheme of the Bill. Such a representative structure could, for example, play an important role in the promotion of mediation as an alternative to court proceedings and in the development of codes of practice for the sector. A number of mediation bodies have made submissions on mediation regulation and standards in the context of the future legislation and I shall have regard to the various views expressed when finalising the Bill for publication.

See this speech in context