Jim O'Callaghan

I agree with the Deputy regarding the K district in Blanchardstown. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, I went to Blanchardstown Garda station and had the pleasure of meeting the gardaí there. They do excellent work. It is a very demanding and busy station. The Deputy mentioned that I needed to get involved in directing the Garda Commissioner as to where Garda numbers should go. I will not do that. I…

I thank the Deputy for the question. As he is aware, last week, I signed the regulations for the local community safety partnerships, which came into operation on Monday, 30 June. A total of 36 partnerships can now be established across the country, with partnerships in each local authority administrative area. That means there will be five in Dublin. Each LCSP will be led by a voluntary chair and…

I note what the Deputy has said about the JPCs, which did a lot of good work. Like me, the Deputy is a former member of a local authority. At stages, they could become very formulaic, with many gardaí, including senior gardaí, sitting there and just engaging directly with local elected councillors on very specific issues. Many of the issues raised at JPCs were issues the Garda could not answer bec…

When they are set up, we will look at them. We should not say in the first instance, "Let us start reviewing them." Let us get them up and running. Let us get them operating effectively and successfully. Everyone here wants them to succeed and I know that the partnerships themselves will want to succeed. If we manage to get this right, it will be a major step forward in terms of just raising issue…

I move: That Dáil Éireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure: R…

I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this important issue. The reason I am here is because of the importance of it. Deputy Byrne is well aware that cybersecurity threats pose a major risk to essential services and critical sectors in Ireland and throughout the world. One of the consequences of being a modern, successful economy is that this is the type of threat to which the country is exposed, I reg…

I have had frequent meetings with the Garda Commissioner and the head of the NCSC in respect of the threats to which this country is exposed as a result of malign actors seeking to attack our cyber technology. It is important that I am updated on a continuing basis. I regret to say that the Deputy is correct, in that the threat does exist. It is a threat not just to our national State-owned infra…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 5, line 17, after “Justice” to insert “, Home Affairs and Migration”. I welcome the fact that we are doing Report Stage of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill now. This is a straightforward amendment because all it will do is reflect the change in the title of the Department and my ministerial office from the Minister for justice, to the Minister for Justice, Home Aff…

I move amendment No. 2: In page 5, lines 19 and 20, to delete “of section 34C into the Principal Act” and substitute “into the Principal Act of different provisions of Part 4A of that Act effected by section 17”. This is an amendment to section 1(2) of the Bill, which provides for the commencement of the Act. Amendment No. 2 simply clarifies that different provisions of Part 4A, which deals with…

I move amendment No. 3: In page 5, line 22, to delete the comma after “Act” and substitute the following: “— “cause of action”, “defamation” and “defamation action” have the same meanings as they have in the Principal Act;”. This amendment seeks to include different references to "cause of action", "defamation" and "defamation action", which were not in the original Bill. The amendment ensures…

I thank Deputies Carthy, McGrath and Gannon for their contributions. I will start on where there is agreement in what they have said. It is correct to say that the contentious part of the legislation before the House is Part 3, which concerns the abolition of juries. I acknowledge that the colleagues who have spoken are generally supportive of the legislation, notwithstanding their opposition to P…

First, I will deal with Deputy Carthy's point about time or costs. The point I make is that if a case takes longer, it will cost more. Individuals will have to pay more for a case if it goes for six days rather than four days. The two extra days will add extra cost to it. Both colleagues referred to the Higgins decision. It was an important Supreme Court decision that set out the bands that shoul…

I move amendment No. 5: In page 6, line 21, to delete “the”.

I move amendment No. 7: In page 6, line 25, to delete “instituted” and substitute “brought”.

I move amendment No. 8: In page 6, to delete line 32.

I move amendment No. 9: In page 7, line 9, to delete “instituted” and substitute “brought”.

I move amendment No. 10: In page 7, line 19, after “corporate” to insert “that is made on or after the date of the coming into operation of section 6 of the Defamation (Amendment) Act 2025”. This group consists of the transitional provisions included throughout the Bill. Before I address those amendments, since we are on section 8, I will refer to the section. It deals with the provision of a ne…

I will reply to the point Deputy Carthy made about section 8. It got some publicity as well around the fact that it was suggested I had deliberately changed the provisions of section 8 to suit myself, or for some purpose that was not in the public interest. As Deputy Carthy knows, that is not correct because he was here on 2 August last year when the Bill was introduced and there has been no chang…

I move amendment No. 11: In page 8, between lines 4 and 5, to insert the following: “(2) The amendment effected by paragraph (a) of subsection (1) shall apply only to causes of action accruing on or after the date of the coming into operation of this section.”.

I move amendment No. 12: In page 8, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: “(2) The amendments effected by subsection (1) shall apply only to causes of action accruing on or after the date of the coming into operation of this section.”.

I move amendment No. 13: In page 9, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following: “(2) The amendment effected by subsection (1) shall apply only to causes of action accruing on or after the date of the coming into operation of this section.”.

I move amendment No. 14: In page 9, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(2) The amendment effected by subsection (1) shall apply only to causes of action accruing on or after the date of the coming into operation of this section.”.

I move amendment No. 15: In page 9, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “Defence of publication on matter of public interest 11. (1) The Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 26: “Publication on matter of public interest 26. (1) It shall be a defence (to be known as the ‘defence of publication on a matter of public interest’) to a defa…

I will be brief in response. I note what Deputy Carthy said about the provenance of the Reynolds defence, which emanated from the British House of Lords. I am not trying to open up old wounds, but the jury system came from the British system of justice that operated in Ireland. I will not go back on that. Deputy Carthy said that people should not tell lies. Everyone agrees with that. However, mos…

I move amendment No. 16: In page 9, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: "Abolition of Reynolds defence 12. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 26: “Abolition of Reynolds defence 26A. (1) Any common law defence known as the Reynolds defence that, immediately before the commencement of section 12 of the Defamation (Amendment) Act 20…