Ireland

Stage of Implementation

The Representative Actions for Protection of the Collective Interests of Consumers Act, which transposes the Collective Redress Directive in Ireland, was signed by the President on 11 July 2023.

Several notable aspects of the Act are as follows:

1. Litigation Funding - under the Act a qualified entity must provide the Court with:

1. the sources of funding of the representative action;
2. the nature of the claim and alleged infringement; and
3. the class or classes of consumers affected by the alleged infringement.

2. Cross-Border Actions - more than one qualified entity may bring a representative action to protect the collective interests of consumers in different member states.

3. Prior Consultations - the Act introduces requirements for practitioners to consider prior to initiating litigation, including, that proceedings will not be brought in respect of a representative action seeking an injunction unless the qualified entity has engaged in prior consultations with the trader to provide them with an opportunity to cease the infringement and/or to engage an alternative dispute resolution entity. 

4. Statute of Limitations - the Act provides a mechanism for the stopping of the clock for the purposes of the Statute of Limitations. This applies when the consumer is participating in a representative action and ensures that any individual claim for redress based on infringement is not prejudiced by their participation in the representative action.

5. Finally, an organisation may apply to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to be designated as a qualified entity for the purposes of taking domestic representative actions or taking cross-border representative actions, or both. 

Extent to which existing law will require change

Significant Change

To find out more about the current collective action regime in this jurisdiction click here.