Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 43 seeks to provide that a complaint that has been referred to mediation or case resolution could only be dealt with by a mediation officer or by way of teleconference in exceptional circumstances and upon the agreement of the complainant. It is implicit that the consent of both parties is a prerequisite to all forms of mediation and case resolution. The Senator's proposed amendment therefore is superfluous in this regard and inappropriate, in so far as it focuses only on the claimant. Essentially, mediation is a voluntary process and the mediator is a professional person who seeks to use whatever ways he or she can to reach an agreement. At any point, however, both sides can withdraw and consequently, to try to be too prescriptive of the approach would not be helpful to the successful execution of the mediation. Therefore, I do not believe it is appropriate to make this amendment.