Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party supports the Bill and the transposition of the directive into Irish law. When an individual consumer takes on a corporation, it is never a fair fight and anything that strengthens the hand of the consumer and levels the playing field is to be welcomed. The broad thrust of the legislation is an attempt to do that. It will allow consumers to band together or enlist the help of designated representative organisations when they go into battle, so to speak, against a big corporation, in a bid to protect their consumer rights.

However, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties has identified a problem that puts the Bill at risk at being at odds with European law. I am advised that there is currently no provision in the Bill to allow for third party funding of collective actions by consumers to protect their rights. To be fair, the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, put on record his communication with the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, who has engaged the Law Reform Commission to review the matter. However, I am somewhat concerned over the timeline for that review. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, indicated that review might not conclude until 2024. We have been waiting for some time to transpose this directive into Irish law and any further delay will be to the detriment of consumers in this country. In his response at the end of Second Stage this evening or tomorrow if it continues to that stage, which is unlikely, the Minister of State might outline his anticipated timeline for the resolution of that problem which is especially problematic for the successful operation of this welcome legislation.

As I said, the Government is already late in bringing this legislation to the Oireachtas and the deadline for its application is 25 June of this year so the clock is ticking. If the legislation is enacted as it currently stands, Ireland will run the risk of being in breach of European Union law. As the Minister of State said in his earlier remarks, infringement proceedings are already under way because we missed the deadline of December of last year for transposition.

We, in the Labour Party, will be proposing a minor but not insignificant amendment that addresses the problem. By making the Bill more reflective of the EU directive it seeks to transpose, it should also serve to speed up its application and make it more effective for consumers. Staying on the right side of European law is important enough but the amendment proposed is also about fairness. The Minister of State will agree that cost cannot be a barrier to consumers seeking to defend their basic rights, particularly when they are facing a battle against entities with bottomless pockets. I urge the Government to accept the amendment we propose to make. It is a minor amendment, but not an insignificant or insubstantial one in terms of the efficacy of the legislation. We should not allow this issue to thwart what is otherwise very welcome legislation.

There are many aspects of the Bill that are welcome. The ability for consumers to act across borders to protect their rights is a crucial element of this legislation. Corporate misdeeds, like the motor industry emissions scandal of 2015 and the mass flight cancellations of 2017, are no respecter of borders and it is important that citizens across the European Union can act to protect their consumer rights where those rights are infringed in multiple member states. This is surely part of the wider vision of what a political, social and economic union should be, and fulfils some of the objectives of what all of us in this House believe the European Union should do. Standing up for the rights of consumers should be central to that, applying consumer protection law evenly, fairly and equitably across the bloc.

For too long, Irish citizens have lacked the ability to act collectively with others who have suffered the same negative impact of corporate misdeeds. This legislation will allow them to do that for the first time, albeit in a limited, tightly controlled and proportionate way. This will not give rise to the free-for-all class action suits we are familiar with from across the Atlantic. There is protection against frivolous or vexatious actions by virtue of the fact that only designated bodies will be allowed to act on behalf of a group of consumers. It is important to ensure that these designated bodies will at all times act with the protection of consumer rights in mind. It is also important that they act in a very transparent and accountable way, and that their activity is monitored.

This Bill will not affect the rights of decent traders one bit. At the same time, it will strengthen the rights of individual consumers. In other words, somebody who is operating fairly, within the law and with a consumer-centred focus, will have nothing whatsoever to worry about.

I reiterate that in order for the legislation to work and comply with EU law, the small and reasonable amendment we will table on Committee Stage is necessary to ensure that everybody will be able to utilise the provisions of the legislation in full. The Minister of State might indicate when he expects Committee Stage to be taken. It would be useful to establish that.

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