Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí atá anseo anocht le haighdh an diospóireacht seo agus gabhaim buíochas leis na Seanadóirí Gavan, Ó Donnghaile, Boylan agus Warfield don leasú.

I do not disagree with Senator Gavan in principle. I think he got that on Second Stage when we the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy James Browne, was in the Visitors Gallery. We want to see this addressed and Senator Gavan acknowledged that. We are late with the transfer position of the directive and we are in receipt of infringement proceedings from the European Commission.

As Senator Gavan acknowledged, this is a complex policy area within the remit of the Minister for Justice. I am very mindful of the restrictions Senator Gavan outlined that apply to accessing third party funding for litigation in Ireland. As of now, this will have implications for this Bill. As the Senator said, the common law offences of champerty and maintenance prevent the funding of the civil action by uninvolved third parties. The Kelly review considered whether these rules should be removed in whole or in part. I recommended that a policy review of the matter be undertaken. That issue is currently under consideration by the Law Reform Commission.That issue is under consideration by the Law Reform Commission.

Regarding a timeline, we are being told it will be shortly. We have kept pressure on the Department of Justice through the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, since the Bill began its journey last September and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has taken it on since returning to the Department. Until we get a direction from that Department, we will maintain our pressure on it. To that effect, I have promised the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment that I will return to it within six months to try to update it on our work. I do not intend moving away from this matter after the Bill is passed. We intend to keep the pressure on the Department of Justice to get the report – obviously, the Law Reform Commission is separate – and to then engage quickly with the Department on how to implement the report in order for this legislation to work to its optimum for those we represent.

These are my answers to the specific questions. This Bill is not the vehicle. We want to get it passed so that we can get it implemented, but we are aware of the challenge in resolving issues around champerty and funding. We will keep the pressure on the Department of Justice to give us the report. We will then work through an implementation report with it. I will arrange a date with the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment before the end of the calendar year.