Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

He suggested what the Government could do to try to get the fast-track ratification the Government had attempted, and to make that okay for the future. This is the Government's framing of that ruling. We are not talking about that in amendments Nos. 16, 20 or 21. We are simply asking whether the Minister of State believes that the High Court should be required to allow enforcement of an award which may compromise the State's ability to achieve the objectives of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act. Does he think the High Court should have the opportunity to define enforcement of an award when it arises from legislative and regulatory measures the State has taken in all of those important areas listed by Senator Sarah O'Reilly, including labour protection and the protection of public services? This is not a matter of what the court said the Government had to do to get its preferred mechanism of ratification to fly. This is a matter of "Yes" or "No". Does the Minister of State believe that awards made by arbitration bodies in relation to the impact of public policy measures in these areas should be enforceable on the State?
We disagree on whether those arbitration bodies will make awards on these areas.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28