Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Mediation Bill, which is currently being drafted in the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, will introduce an obligation on solicitors and barristers to advise any person intending to commence legal proceedings to give consideration to using mediation as an alternative means of resolving disputed issues. It will also provide that a court may, following the commencement of any such proceedings, on its own initiative or at the request of a party to the proceedings, invite the parties to consider mediation as an alternative option and suspend the proceedings to facilitate that process.

I very much regret that it has not been possible to publish this Bill to date. This has been due to the extensive programme of progressive law reform undertaken by my Department in accordance with the ambitious targets set out in the Programme for Government. However, while it is not possible to give a specific date for publication of the Bill at this stage, I intend to proceed quickly with enactment of the Bill following its publication in due course.