20.—(1) Disputes between the central management and employees (or their representatives) employed in the State concerning the withholding by the central management of commercially sensitive information or as to whether information disclosed by the central management in confidence to employees’ representatives is of a kind that, pursuant to section15, may not be revealed, may be referred by either the central management or employees’ representatives to an independent arbitrator appointed by the Minister under regulations made for the purposes of this section.

(2) An arbitrator appointed under subsection (1) shall be paid, from moneys made available for that purpose by the Oireachtas, such fees as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

(3) The parties to an arbitration under this section shall each bear their own costs.

(4) The procedure adopted by the arbitrator shall, as far as practicable, protect the confidentiality of the information concerned.

(5) A party to an arbitration under this section may not appeal to a court against a determination of the arbitrator except on a point of law.