Dáil passes Defamation Bill by 83 votes to 61
Jim O'Callaghan
has warned.
He was highlighting a new defence for retailers subjected to defamation claims for challenging people on whether they had paid for goods before leaving a shop.
The provision is part of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill, which includes the abolition of juries in such cases and protections for media organisations against strategic lawsuits against public participation (Slapps), actions taken by usually rich or powerful individuals designed to intimidate media organisations in their coverage of such people.
The
Dáil
on Wednesday night passed the legislation by 83 votes to 61 and it now goes to the
Seanad
.
READ MORE
Mr O'Callaghan said there had been 'ill-informed inaccurate commentary' that he had amended provisions of the Bill on protections for retailers. This was 'completely incorrect'.
The Minister said the provision was a 'very powerful defence' and this power was to 'ensure that they aren't subjected to unnecessary defamation actions'.
Sinn Féin
justice spokesman
Matt Carthy
suggested the Minister talk to retailers because a representative group member had expressed 'real concerns' to him that the provision would not do what it was supposed to.
Claims are encouraged when retailers have a 'tendency not to contest', Mr O'Callaghan said. If retailers contest claims which are not valid, 'the message will go out to litigants there is no point in taking those claims', he added.
The Minister also said politicians 'should have a thick skin' about commentary in traditional media and 'perhaps we should also have a thick skin when it comes to comments made about us online, although that's a matter for each individual politician'.
Introducing a measure to provide protections to individuals against online defamation, he said 'there has to be a statutory response' where 'really egregious defamatory statements are made about an individual falsely accusing them of the most heinous and serious offences'.
The Bill also contains a provision to protect media organisations on occasions 'where a responsible journalist may have made a mistake in one or two details'.
It was not Mr O'Callaghan's experience that 'the media has gone out of their way to tell lies'.
But Mr Carthy said the Minister was saying this 'from the luxury' of representing
Fianna Fáil
.
It was his experience as a Sinn Féin representative that 'there have been instances where our media outlets have published downright lies about my party and they done so knowing that [they] were lies'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Consumers to face higher electricity costs amid networks investment
Homes and businesses face electricity bill increases of up to €16 a year if regulators approve State companies' plans to spend billions boosting the Republic's power networks. National electricity grid operator EirGrid and ESB Networks are seeking the Commission for Regulation of Utilities ' (CRU) approval to spend €19 billion over five years overhauling the systems that transmit electricity from power plants and distribute it to more than two million customers. The CRU proposes approving total spending of €14.1 billion up to 2030, but will allow scope for increases to €19 billion, depending on the progress each company makes with its plans. Fergal Mulligan, CRU commissioner, calculates that the average electricity bill will rise by €6 to €16 a year up to 2030 as a result, but cautions that this will depend on what the companies ultimately build and 'how suppliers chose to recover network costs'. READ MORE The increases will apply to network costs, which most customers pay as a standing charge on their bills, and not to electricity itself, whose cost will vary over the period. Network charges account for about 30 per cent of the €1,733 a year that the average customer pays for electricity. Mr Mulligan acknowledged that EirGrid's and ESB Networks' plans would increase customers' bills at a time when many families face financial pressure. 'In terms of the cost to the consumer of this investment, it will be assessed on a year-by-year basis,' he pledged. The CRU is seeking responses from the public and interested parties starting today. It proposes allowing the companies exceed their allowances only if progress shows them meeting their targets. It will monitor this closely over the five-year period. EirGrid and ESB Networks plea that the system needs investment to facilitate new power stations and the wind and solar farms needed to ensure the State hits climate targets. Their plans include the connection of the 300,000 new homes the Government hopes will be built by 2030, along with new businesses and services. The total allows €890 million for a 'storm resilience programme' meant to apply the lessons learned following January's Storm Éowyn , which left many homes without power for long periods. Regulators agree with the need for investment but caution that the companies most be accountable for spending and progress. EirGrid is responsible for the national grid, which transmits electricity from power stations around the country, while ESB Networks owns the lines that distribute electricity to each customer. The CRU will allocate €11.5 billion to the networks company while EirGrid will get €2.6 billion. The regulator is responding to submissions from both under a process called Price Review 6, which covers the 2026 to 2030 period. The companies plan more than 360 projects, including 29 major undertakings. They will involve 300km of underground cables and 1,000km overhead, lines connecting offshore wind and tying the Republic to Europe.
Irish Times
5 hours ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, July 3rd: On enticing developers, bedsits, Ukraine and Kneecap
Sir, – Lorcan Sirr's article (' If long-term renting is such a good solution, why don't more politicians do it ?', July 1st) invites challenge across a number of key elements. Sirr claims that 14 per cent of higher income Irish renters spend more than 30 per cent of their income on rent, versus 3 per cent elsewhere – but offers no source. These percentages depend heavily on which countries are included: Ireland's higher living costs skew the average. A more apples to apples comparison – say among the EU 15 – shows Irish rent-to-income ratios are above average, but not significantly so. Sirr's framing exaggerates the disparity. He goes on to characterise Government strategy as 'let rents rise to attract investors, then build supply to bring rents down'. This is a caricature. READ MORE Government policy includes major subsidies for cost rental, increased public capital for social and affordable homes and targeted institutional investment to fund supply. Institutional investment hasn't been a driver of rent inflation – it has responded to demand and under-supply, not caused it. A critical omission in the writer's piece is any mention of institutional investors' role in the for-sale market. Across Europe and in Ireland, these investors back the delivery of homes for purchase, funding large-scale apartment and housing developments that are then sold to individuals, first-time buyers and owner-occupiers. This model reduces developer risk and brings forward supply. Ignoring this makes his argument against 'the investment model' incomplete, selective and unfair. He cites inspection failure rates without acknowledging that increased inspections naturally uncover more issues, or that enforcement and funding have improved in recent years. Again, it's a one-sided narrative. Suggesting housing policy lacks legitimacy unless politicians themselves rent long-term is more rhetorical than serious. Housing policy should be judged on outcomes and delivery, not on whether TDs rent or own. Sirr's critique taps into valid public frustration but misleads by leaving out key context, cherry-picking data, and ignoring the evolving and broader role of private capital in housing delivery. – Yours, etc, PAT FARRELL, CEO, Irish Institutional Property, Dublin. Sir, – Lorcan Sirr calls for more regulation of the Irish rental market, despite the dramatic reduction in the number of rental properties and landlords since the introduction of rent controls and heavy rental market regulations in 2016. Landlords have lost significant control over their properties in an ever-changing regulatory environment, but the left is seldom satisfied no matter how draconian or how restrictive the regulations are from the perspective of the property owner. In late 2016 rent controls were introduced for the private rental market in Ireland. At that time the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) said there were 319,822 private rented tenancies. By the end of 2024, the RTB said the number remaining was down to 240,964. Stringent rent regulations have driven capital investment out of Ireland in search of more reasonable investment markets elsewhere, logically. Smaller landlords have sold up in their droves. Economists and investors warned of significant negative investment consequences at the time of the introduction of rent controls. Investors have now been regulated into submission – and they have gone away, you know. What was predicted has ensued. There is no doubt now that rent controls discourage private investors from funding the construction of new homes and they drive current investors and landlords out of the market, thereby reducing the supply of housing required to provide accommodation in an era of strong population growth with long term inward migration flows. Many people want to come to Ireland to share in our prosperity and they want homes built to rent or to buy so that they can settle here for the long term. To grow this country's housing stock at the level required over the next 5-10 years will require in the range of ¤20-25 billion per year of new investment. State funding and Lorcan Sirr's proposed Irish savers housing fund will not be nearly sufficient to deliver the housing investment needed for the medium to long term. The taxpayer and the Irish saver, together with severe regulations, will not solve the housing crisis. The private sector is the key to unlocking mass housing supply. Approximately ¤10-15 billion of private sector investment is likely required in this country every year to build the homes we need. More rental market regulation will not help – overburdensome regulations, high taxation on small landlords and ritual anti-landlord sentiment have truly come home to roost in Ireland. – Yours, etc, MARK MOHAN, Dublin 15. Sir, – Michael McDowell (' Folly of abolishing bedsits ,' July 1st) reminds us again of the folly of getting rid of bedsits. Many people, this writer included, remember happy days lived in places deemed to be unsuitable by today's standards. I recall to this day visiting a house set in bedsits in Rathmines with a judge who wanted to help one of the residents I knew. We were sitting in cramped accommodation, having a mug of tea and discussing the topics of the day, when a man from another nearby bedsit dropped in. The man we were visiting nodded to his friend and said: 'Sure, judge we are as happy as Larry here aren't we, what more do we want'? The 'cure is worse than the disease' comes to mind when decisions are made at times, without looking at the wider picture. Getting rid of bedsits clearly is a good example. – Yours, etc, ALICE LEAHY, Director of Services, Alice Leahy Trust, Dublin 8. Cutting off Kneecap Sir, – Long seen as one of the free world's great independent broadcasters, it was disappointing to see the BBC bowing to political pressure from UK prime minister Keir Starmer and others with their decision not to livestream Kneecap from the Glastonbury festival at the weekend. It was somewhat ironic that, in their zeal to cut Kneecap off, Bob Vylan, a performer I had never heard of, managed to sneak in under the radar, much now to the embarrassment of BBC director-general Tim Davie. – Yours, etc, JOHN GLENNON, Co Wicklow. Sir, – Instead of pursuing Kneecap and Bob Vylan for possible hate crime, surely it is time that the British government and, for that matter, the Trump administration, call out the Israel Defense Forces. The Israeli army persists in supporting marauding Israeli settlers in the West Bank who are illegally terrorising Palestinian residents. Then there are their daily amoral attacks in Gaza, where it appears they are using the residents, civilians they insist on calling suspects, for target practice. This has to be called out for what it is . The British government should spend less time worrying about rock stars and their stage shows and more time using what influence they have to stop what more and more countries are now acknowledging to be a genocide. – Yours, etc, HUGH DALY, Dún Laoghaire, Dublin. Voting rights and the diaspora Sir, – I wholly disagree with Ciarán Scally's view on Irish citizens voting from abroad ( Letters, July 2nd). I am an Irish citizen, born in Ireland, who then moved abroad during childhood to Canada, as many did during the late 1980s. We came 'home' every summer and I returned myself to go to college and stayed in Ireland. We became naturalised citizens and hold dual citizenship. I go to Canada every summer and have family still living there. While I enjoy my summer visits, and I have a right to vote in elections, I have never done so. I don't feel that I have a right to exercise my preference when I really don't suffer the consequences of it, even in the very recent tight federal election, where of course I had an opinion, but I did not vote. There are more Irish citizens abroad than at home and this could have a huge impact on current politics, but the ones abroad don't live with the consequences. Do they really understand the full nuances of current day to day living in Ireland? Maybe, but more likely not. If we look at current US politics, as an example, where many many Irish citizens live, would we want to risk a far right vote which, though there is now an element of in society, we haven't really seen in voting? Is their a perception of Ireland and Northern Ireland, for example, an 'Irish one' or an 'Irish American one' which really are two distinctly separate cultures? Those who leave Ireland are also paying no tax to Ireland, unlike requirements in other jurisdictions such as the US, which offer ex-pat voting – and that then is possibly a different issue. When you move abroad, there are changes to life and in deciding to leave Ireland not being able to vote is one of them, and rightly so – you can't have your cake and eat it. – Yours, etc, NIAMH BYRNE, Fairview, Dublin 3, Sir, – Once again the issue of voting rights for those living in Northern Ireland and the 'diaspora' is being raised. There is a key principle here and we should stick with it. There are many people who do not live in the State but are part of the nation. I respect absolutely their Irishness and their right to so identify. However, the laws and jurisdiction of the Republic only apply in this State. Therefore, a vote on our government structures should be held and exercised by those living in the State or who are external to it for short periods. The president is the third House of the Oireachtas and should be respected as such. Indeed, many of those who support such a proposal have never respected the very existence of this State. Extending the right to vote to all those aged over 18, irrespective of nationality, living in the State for a reasonably defined period of time, is the truly democratic thing to do and not the proposals regarding the presidential elections. Indeed, in my view it demeans the office of president by implying that it is a vote of lesser consequence. – Yours, etc, DERMOT LACEY, Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Perspectives on Ukraine Sir, – Oskana Voronina's letter (June 30th), demonstrates that there is hope for Ukrainians fleeing their war-torn country. The material and psychological damage to Ukraine is inestimable, but we in this country can do more. Senator Michael McDowell is one member of the Oireachtas speaking out on the tragedy that is the existential Russian invasion of Ukraine. Yes, what is happening in Gaza is genocide, but its scale and impact on world peace is regional and local in comparison to the eventual outcome in Ukraine. The suggestion that Russia has kompromat on the US president Donald Trump looks more plausible every day. There is rarely a word of censure on Putin's invasion from the White House. To date, there has been hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides, inestimable infrastructural destruction, millions driven from their homes, probably hundreds of billions of euro of property damaged and the eventual outcome is still in the balance. The Skibbereen Eagle needs to be resurrected, as currently Mr McDowell is fighting this battle on his own. – Yours, etc, VINCENT CARROLL, Rathfarnham, Dublin. Some spoiler alerts Sir, – As a regular gig-goer I read Máirín O'Keeffe's letter (June 30th) with interest. Unfortunately, I was unable to get to Malahide Castle to see Neil Young myself, but read the positive reviews with regret. Máirín requests 'more of the songs we've been listening to all our lives'. I checked Neil's setlist and 10 of the 14 were what I call bona fide classics spanning most of his career. As for Van Morrison, he has a reputation for being contrary so nothing new there, but I noted that he did finish off with a great version of Gloria. To paraphrase Neil Young, let's all keep rocking in the free world. – Yours, etc FERGUS MADDEN, Goatstown, Dublin. Architecturally reassured Sir, – Adding to today's timely editorial (' Good design is not a luxury, ' July 1st ), I feel reassured that the commitment made by the Government, through the published Government Policy on Architecture, will ensure that physical investment in buildings and places in the public domain will always be on the basis of good quality design. –– Yours, etc, KLAUS UNGER, Killiney, Co Dublin. Glenveagh Castle and that curse Sir, Marc McMenamin says Arthur Kingsley Porter bought Glenveagh Castle from the much-despised landlord John George Adair in 1929, but Adair died in 1885. (Irishman's Diary, July 2nd). Adair's American wife, Cornelia, inherited the estate and was quite well liked – at least according to the accounts of local people and their descendants (of whom I am one) – before she died in 1921. McMenamin notes that the State eventually acquired Glenveagh but oddly makes no mention that for nearly 40 years when it was owned by another American, Henry McIlhenny, life there was famously gay –and untouched by what McMenamin calls 'Adair's curse'. – Yours, etc, FRANK GAVIN, Toronto, Canada. Below the belt Sir, – I can answer MJ Tomlin on 'where do we go from here?' (Letters, June 28th). The answer is in Simplex six down today: sperm. Back to the beginning. – Yours , etc, DAVID McMENAMIN, Killiney, Dublin.
The Journal
5 hours ago
- The Journal
Gerry Adams slams 'vindictive' UK government plans to block compensation for illegal internment
GERRY ADAMS HAS condemned as 'vindictive and unlawful' the UK government's plan to block compensation for hundreds of people interned without trial during the Troubles, calling it a political move to rewrite history and defy the Supreme Court. The former Sinn Féin president was reacting to confirmation from Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn that the Government will bring forward new legislation aimed at stopping payouts to those (including Adams) whose detention was ruled unlawful by the UK's highest court. 'I am not surprised by the British government's decision to retrospectively make lawful actions it took 50 years ago that were illegal and unlawful at that time,' Adams said today. 'The original injustice endured by the internees will be deepened by the stupidity of a vindictive British government which doesn't accept its own law.' The fresh legislation follows a 2020 Supreme Court ruling which found that Adams and nearly 400 other individuals were unlawfully detained in the 1970s because their Interim Custody Orders (ICOs) had not been personally authorised by the Secretary of State, as required by law. ICOs were emergency detention orders introduced in 1971 at the height of the Troubles, allowing authorities to detain suspects without trial. However, the law required these orders be personally signed by the Secretary of State — a step missed in many cases, including Adams's. The 2020 court decision opened the door for compensation claims – until the Legacy Act, passed under the Conservative government, attempted to retroactively validate the ICOs. That attempt was struck down by the High Court in Belfast in February 2024 as incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. Now, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the UK government have pledged to rewrite the law again in a bid to stop the compensation payments. 'The main issue here is the application of the Carltona principle,' Benn said in Parliament last week. Advertisement 'The Government will therefore legislate to address this issue in forthcoming primary legislation.' The Carltona principle is a legal doctrine that allows civil servants in the UK to act on behalf of ministers or Secretaries of State, meaning decisions can be made without the official's personal signature. The UK government intends to use this principle to justify retrospectively validating ICOs. The DUP has welcomed the move. Party leader Gavin Robinson said it was 'right and proper that the Government ensures Adams does not receive one penny of taxpayer money.' 'Such a move would have been an affront to all those who uphold the rule of law and an insult to victims of terrorism,' Robinson added. But Adams, who has always denied IRA membership, says the planned law change only compounds the injustice suffered by internees. Many, now elderly, were imprisoned without trial under emergency measures introduced at the height of the conflict in 1971. 'They were victims of appalling treatment at the hands of the British state forces and were held in shameful conditions,' he said. Legal and human rights groups are expected to challenge the new legislation if passed, raising concerns about the use of retroactive laws to neutralise court judgments and deny victims redress. 'The British government is once again rewriting its own laws when they become politically inconvenient,' Adams said earlier this year. 'This is not justice. This is political manipulation dressed up as legality.' The bill is expected to be brought before Parliament later this year. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
