As there were no amendments in order at Report Stage we will now proceed to Fifth Stage.
Representative Actions for the Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Bill 2023: Report and Final Stages
Bill received for final consideration
Question proposed: "That the Bill do now pass."
There was an amendment in the name of my colleague, Deputy O'Reilly, that was ruled out of order. We have a letter from the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Deputy Catherine Connolly, to that effect. I wish to speak on this amendment if the Minister of State agrees. We were not going to push the amendment but we did want to put it down and we may finesse it in the Seanad and bring the amendment again. This amendment seeks to ensure that maintenance and champerty do not apply to dispute resolution proceedings as a new subsection in section 19. This is a point we raised at the prelegislative scrutiny stage and on Second Stage. As it currently stands, the legislation states that all costs will be borne by the qualified entity. This point is complicated by the nature of the cost of bringing a court case as well as the fact that only nominal fees can be accepted by qualified entities. Hence the difficulty this poses for quality entities can be seen. Dr. Johnny Ryan from the Irish Council of Civil Liberties pointed out that article 21 of the directive provides that member states shall take account of the non-profit-making character of qualified entities in ensuring a lack of funding is not a bar to bringing representative actions. We believe the Bill needs to be slightly reconfigured to enable non-profit organisations to source funding for collective actions given that it will not be free or indeed cheap to take such actions. Failure to resolve this would mean customers would be disadvantaged. Indeed not applying maintenance and champerty to dispute resolution proceedings is precisely what the Government did for international arbitration in section 114 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022.
While we are speaking about collective redress, I would hope there would be redress and supports for the workers of Iceland, the food retailer, as they are facing the examinership process. These workers are being treated disgracefully by the new management of Iceland. Since the company was taken over by new management some months ago, there have been significant and sustained allegations of poor management, lack of communication, and intimidation of workers. Workers allege they have either not received wages owed to them or have not received their wages in full. Despite the food retailer entering examinership and the stores effectively closing, staff have been given no information whatsoever. This lack of communication has been a hallmark of the new Iceland management and despite the best efforts of workers they have been constantly left in the dark.
It is against this backdrop that news that the company is entering examinership must be reviewed. Serious questions must be asked about the recent takeover of Iceland and who exactly is running the company. Given the current situation the food retailer's treatment of workers and the opaque nature of of the new ownership, Sinn Féin has written to the Corporate Enforcement Authority to ask that it investigate any potential breaches of company law. We are not saying there are breaches but we want to have it investigated. Iceland operates 26 stores across the State including the store in Moyross in Limerick. It employs more than 344 people. It is essential these workers and the moneys owed to them are at the front and centre of any proceedings. I offer my continued support and that of Sinn Féin to the workers, their families and their communities and I hope the Minister of State will offer his as well. As for the amendment, we will raise it at another time.
I thank the officials in my Department and everyone who has been involved in the work on the Bill. Regarding the amendment, as Deputy Quinlivan, as Cathaoirleach of the committee on enterprise, knows the whole issue of champerty and maintenance is being considered by the Law Reform Commission. We probably should have kept the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, here. A report is due on that and that will place the issue of champerty and that whole area into a context we can proceed with, so we are not cold to the amendment by any means.
The Minister, Deputy Coveney, dealt with the Iceland matter earlier at Leader's questions. It is very clear we want to see that resolved and we want to see the interests of the workers protected. There is very strong law regarding the protection of workers and it is important everybody adheres to that law. We made it very clear we want to see the Iceland workers protected.
Question put and agreed to.
The Bill will now be sent to the Seanad.