Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 116: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has been in contact with the National Consumer Agency to establish an alternative dispute resolution procedure as a means of resolving disputes arising out of consumer transactions; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31019/08]

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The statutory mandate of the National Consumer Agency as prescribed under the Consumer Protection Act 2007 specifically includes promoting the development of alternative dispute resolution, ADR, procedures as a means of resolving disputes arising out of consumer transactions.

Currently one of the procedures most used by consumers for achieving redress is the Small Claims Court procedure. The Small Claims Court procedure provides an inexpensive, fast and easy way for consumers to resolve disputes without the need to employ a solicitor. Since 2006, the Small Claims Court operates an on-line dispute resolution procedure where claims can be filed on-line. The limit for processing claims in the Small Claims Court was raised to €2,000 with effect from 7 February 2006.

A further development in the small claims area was the adoption last year of an EU regulation establishing a European small claims procedure. The regulation will effectively enable a judgment given in a member state in the European small claims procedure to be recognised and enforced in another member state. I am advised that as part of an overall study in the area of arbitration and redress the National Consumer Agency will later this year, in conjunction with the Courts Service, consider the Small Claims Court and in particular the difficulties consumers can experience in enforcing the judgments of the court.

The agency has also recently developed a code of practice, with the Irish Home Builders Association, to be followed by developers in the development, interim management and sale of multi-unit development properties. The code includes specific provisions for dispute resolution and redress and urges unit owners and developers to use alternative out-of-court mechanisms for resolving disputes.

Europe has been a major catalyst in the development of extra-judicial options for dispute resolution. Much of the work in this area has been focused on ensuring that European citizens have access to cheaper, quicker and more informal dispute resolution mechanisms, thereby enabling them to better reap the benefits of the Single Market. In the specific area of disputes relating to consumer transactions, the European Consumer Centres Network is a network of centres established by the European Commission together with the member states which, among other things, promotes ADR schemes.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

The European Consumer Centre in Dublin is funded jointly by the National Consumer Agency and the European Commission. Irish consumers who have a dispute with a retailer in another member state, or consumers in other member states who have a dispute with an Irish retailer, can contact the centre, which seeks to resolve such disputes in co-operation with experts in European Consumer Centres across the European Union. If the centre cannot find a remedy through direct intervention it will seek to assist the parties in taking their disputes to an appropriate ADR body.

The European Commission has promulgated a number of recommendations in an effort to provide a common minimum European standard for ADR schemes. The recommendations set out the standards and principles which should apply to bodies involved in out-of-court settlement and consensual resolution of consumer disputes. The Commission maintains a database of the various ADR bodies in the member states which subscribe to these principles. My Department is responsible for notifying bodies in Ireland to the Commission for inclusion in its database and has notified four such bodies to the Commission to date.

In the area of cross-border disputes, a European directive on certain aspects of mediation in civil and commercial matters was promulgated in May this year. This directive is essentially intended to provide a framework to allow parties to a cross-border dispute to attempt to reach an amicable settlement of their dispute with the help of a mediator. The directive must be transposed into Irish law by May 2011. My Department will work closely with the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, which has overall responsibility for its transposition, on those aspects of the directive relating to cross-border consumer disputes. At a national level, the Law Reform Commission launched a consultation paper on ADR on 30 July this year. The consultation paper contains a significant number of proposals for promoting ADR as a means of resolving disputes, including a number of specific proposals with regard to consumer disputes.

The Deputy will see from the foregoing that a considerable number of initiatives are being undertaken at national and European level in promoting ADR as a means of resolving consumer disputes. ADR offers a considerable advantage by providing parties with a ready and relatively inexpensive means of resolving disputes. I am confident that through the work of the National Consumer Agency and the progression of the aforementioned initiatives, ADR will become a more accepted and mainstream means of resolving consumer disputes.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his answer. I was not really asking about cross-border trade and disputes but about the existing section 8(3) of the Consumer Protection Act, which provides a mandate for the National Consumer Agency to promote and even establish alternative means of dispute resolution between consumers and, for example, retailers. There are two things that can be done in this regard. Does the Minister of State agree that the upper limit for a small claim, which is €2,000, should be increased? Almost any significant purchase, such as a suite of furniture or a foreign holiday, will be more than €2,000, and if there is a dispute one must then go to a higher court. Does the Minister of State not agree that this threshold should be increased so that consumers who have been ripped off by slightly more than €2,000 can have recourse to the Small Claims Court?

Will the Minister consider asking the National Consumer Agency to introduce a system of dispute resolution and arbitration for consumers, similar to the Personal Injuries Assessment Board? Thus the consumer agency itself could take on the job of arbitrating disputes between consumers and those against whom they are making complaints. This is provided for in the Act; it just requires a bit of leadership to implement it.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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It is in the Act. The Law Reform Commission suggested that the limit be increased from €2,000 to €3,000 and the Minister continues to review such suggestions in the context of these claims.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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How long will she review it for?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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The court has been functioning very well. It is used widely and is becoming more accessible to the public as they can lodge their claims on-line. If we continue with our reviews, we can keep pace with what is required by the consumer. The system is effective. I do not see a role for the agency, as the Deputy suggests. Why create another model when the current one is functioning well? All it requires is to be reviewed from time to time and the Department and the Government are committed to ensuring that occurs. The upper limit of €2,000 can be reviewed again if necessary.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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It seems "review" means "do nothing".

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Reviewing does not mean doing nothing. The Deputy has a way of using weasel words and turning things around. It is not doing nothing.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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A government should review a situation, make an assessment and then make a decision, and it may perhaps review things again at another stage one or two years down the line.

Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Exactly.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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This Government seems to be in a constant process of review which is then used as an excuse not to make decisions.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Does the Deputy have a question?

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I will ask the first part of my question again.

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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We get the facts and then we make the decisions, unlike the Deputy.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Please allow the Deputy to put his question.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister not agree that the €2,000 threshold is too low and that it should be increased now and then reviewed at a later date?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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I will tell the Deputy again, because he obviously was not listening, that it can be increased. It has been suggested that it be increased.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Do it.

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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It will be increased if the Minister so decides. The review is ongoing.

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Will the Minister decide?

Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)
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What is the date of the decision?

John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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By the way, the Deputy should know that a review must be carried out before we can make a decision. In this way we are unlike the Deputy, with his continual knee-jerk reactions, outside on the plinth and up and down in his seat over there, without any consideration for the topic he is suggesting should be discussed.