Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith ag an Cheann Comhairle as ucht an deis labhartha seo a thabhairt dom anocht. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this issue. I commend my two colleagues, Deputies Pearse Doherty and Ó Laoghaire, for bringing forward this very worthwhile Bill. It brings into effect the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission report of 2005, when the issue was examined in detail. It provides for cases to be taken on behalf of large categories of people who are affected by a particular injustice and share a common issue of fact or law. This model would significantly reduce the costs of litigation, representation and duplication. It would make better use of court resources and, most importantly, improve access to justice.

The most recent example, as mentioned by my colleagues, is the tracker mortgage scandal. The banks that knowingly caused serious financial hardship for thousands of families took a gamble. They gambled that the individuals involved would not be in a position to access justice due to the high cost of litigation and, for the most part, they were right. Unfortunately, there are many other such examples. In my previous role as education spokesperson, I dealt with survivors of sex abuse in schools, many of whom had been persuaded to drop their cases against the State after the ruling against Louise O'Keeffe in the Supreme Court. To date, only seven of these victims have been offered any type of compensation by the State. Few of them will ever see any type of justice from the courts. One cannot help but wonder how different things would have been for them if this type of action had been available. Fianna Fáil and the Labour Party have previously commented on the need for such a model in Ireland. I call on every Deputy in the House to support this legislation.

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