Dispute over contract for purchase of ventilators is referred for arbitration

Application by HSE to have dispute referred to arbitration - pursuant to Article 8(1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, as incorporated into Irish law by s. 6 of the Arbitration Act 2010 - proceedings concern contract entered into between the plaintiff and the HSE on 27 March 2020 for purchase of 350 ventilators at a cost of almost €7.5 million - contract made and signed by the parties late at night in circumstances of great urgency at a time when there was perceived to be a very urgent need to secure a supply of ventilators for those falling ill with coronavirus - HSE subsequently conducted due diligence and became concerned as to representations made by the plaintiff - HSE did not make payment - plaintiffs sought interlocutory relief, adjourned to hearing of the action - plaintiff's application for entry in the Commercial List adjourned pending HSE's application for the dispute to be referred to arbitration - whether contract contained an arbitration agreement such that all issues in the proceedings fell within the scope of that agreement - whether relevant clause was merely an agreement to agree or was otherwise null and void and was unenforceable - whether it was too late to refer the dispute to arbitration where the HSE had allegedly made its first substantive submission by way of a telephone conversation between the parties' solicitors.