John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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434. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality her plans to increase the monetary limit of claims which can be brought to the Small Claims Court, in view of the fact that the €2,000 limit has remained static for almost a decade; if she is aware of the limits in the United Kingdom which were recently raised to £10,000 sterling with plans to increase them by a further 50%; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23117/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The current maximum value of cases that can be taken under the small claims procedure of the District Court is €2,000. This limit was set in 2006 and was last reviewed in 2009 in advance of the expansion of the scheme to cater for business-to-business claims of the same nature which came into effect on 5 January 2010. I am informed that the review found that the existing limit was appropriate and should remain unchanged as an increase might result in a negative impact on the level of service provided by Small Claims Registrars throughout the country. The procedure is labour intensive but provides a satisfactory service at present.

In addition, European Small Claims Procedures, provided for under Regulation (EC) No. 861/2007, currently provide for a maximum claim limit of €2,000. Negotiations are at an advance stage in the relevant EU Working Group to amend this Regulation and it is anticipated that the claim limit may be increased. The rules governing the procedure, including the question of increasing the limit further, will be considered further by my Department following the conclusion of the EU discussions.