Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask the Minister for Justice and Equality, in light of ongoing concern about his Department's approach, what his Department is actively doing to bring Ireland into line with EU law by ensuring that limited companies can access our courts if they cannot afford to engage the often disproportionately expensive solicitors and barristers by whom our courts insist they must be represented. The previous Minister said in reply to parliamentary questions in 2016 that she was:

aware of case C-258/13 regarding Article 47 of the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights ... While there are no plans at present to introduce legal aid for the type of commercial enterprise referred to, the situation is kept under review in my Department.

Article 47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, on the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial, states:

Everyone whose rights and freedoms guaranteed by the law of the Union are violated has the right to an effective remedy before a tribunal in compliance with the conditions laid down in this Article. Everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal previously established by law. Everyone shall have the possibility of being advised, defended and represented. Legal aid shall be made available to those who lack sufficient resources in so far as such aid is necessary to ensure effective access to justice.

In essence, this is being denied to small businesses in Ireland due to the rules that they must engage expensive legal representation in order to get redress before the Irish courts. As a businessman, on several occasions I have been in need of legal redress for relatively small amounts, but the certainty of the expensive legal cost involved ensured that I could not pursue the matter. Businesses in Ireland have enough stress without the added frustration of knowing that the justice system, which is paid for through our taxes, is denied to them.

With regard to intellectual property, there has been a major problem with protections for people with rights in this area. This has been raised on many occasions in both Houses of the Oireachtas. Holders of intellectual property rights are in many instances individual people who need their rights defended without incurring massive legal fees. They can do this in other EU countries but not in Ireland. This has been known by the Government for some years now and many Deputies on all sides of the Dáil, including the current Taoiseach, have tried to secure action on it, but it appears to have been lost in translation in the Department of Justice and Equality. It appears that the Government knows it is breaking EU law but is doing little about it. It also appears that the European Commission has been led to believe that the problem does not exist in Ireland.

Will the Minister tell the House what his Department or the Government has told the EU, either directly or indirectly, on this matter?

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