Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State. I concur with many of the points made in his contribution on this Bill. Arbitration is a concept which is not as widely used in Ireland as would be desirable. It could be usefully used to resolve many commercial disputes and disputes between individuals. It is unfortunate we have allowed access to the courts to become the prerogative of the wealthy due to the captive nature of the fees charged by the legal profession, by members of the Bar in particular. Practitioners, some of whom are Members of this House, will acknowledge that one goes to court to get law but it is not the place to go if one is looking for justice. The costs associated with taking a case to court make it prohibitive for people to follow that course and in many instances the outcome can be unsatisfactory for both plaintiff and defendant. The arbitration method provides an opportunity for an individual to explain exactly what he or she is seeking and in many cases, through the medium of the arbitrator, it enables the parties to interact and, as a result, the outcome is more suitable and commensurate with the needs of both sides.

The Minister of State also spoke about cost issues. On that point, I wish to outline my past experience in that respect with people who tend to look at arbitration. I suggest the exorbitant fees associated with the legal process can influence arbitration fees and thereby contaminate the arbitration system. That might be one of the reasons for the lack of use of the arbitration facility. Our arbitration laws have been on the Statute Book for some time. I think 12 years have passed since we had the last arbitration legislation. Many legal agreements include dispute resolution clauses. One is often advised by one's solicitor that the inclusion of arbitration as a means of resolving a dispute under the agreement exposes one to almost the same cost as going to court. I have often seen agreements drawn up after parties were dissuaded from including arbitration in the process. The whole scandal of legal fees has never been dealt with by any Government, but it needs to be tackled with some urgency. I have urged the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights to take a look at it. I hope it does. It takes courage to take on such a strong and influential vested interest group. If we value our republican ethos, equality of access to the court system must be regarded as an essential component that underpins our system. Government authorities should take some degree of control of these exorbitant costs.

I agree with the Minister of State and others that the adoption of the Model Law on international commercial arbitration could pave the way for us to establish a greater remit for this country as a centre for international arbitration. In addition to becoming very wealthy, our lawyers gained tremendous experience at the tribunals. They may be able to apply that experience in the arbitration sector. I remind the House of the manner in which this country positioned itself in the international financial services sector. Despite the many naysayers who criticised the construction of the International Financial Services Centre, it has been a significant success. The disasters that have occurred in banking in the meantime have nothing to do with the centre. We can take great pride in the fact that it was established during the severe economic downturn of the late 1980s. We can take confidence from its success as we can concentrate on other areas such as arbitration in a similar way. In certain trades such as the grain trade one can use internationally recognised methods of arbitration in cases of dispute. We should seek to establish and promote such a centre here. We should try to ensure the costs involved are managed to ensure they do not get out of hand. If we display such competitiveness, we can position ourselves well in this area.

I am pleased the arbitration system will be given greater autonomy. I am not sure how one can promote it - probably through the legal profession. We should try to get economic benefits from this legislation. If we can bring about a shift from the courts system to the arbitration system, for example, we will release time in the courts which will probably enable us to rationalise costs in the civil courts, in particular. I would see this as an admirable objective. I welcome the fact that further appeals will not be allowed beyond the High Court. I am pleased that the parties to arbitration will be allowed, to some degree, to frame aspects of the arbitration process.

This is a good Bill. However, it will not work unless we attract people to use it which we can do by ensuring the costs associated with it are far more competitive than those associated with the courts system.