Matt Carthy

One of the objectives of defamation law - it might not be stated in law - is that, at a time when there is so much mistrust about misinformation and disinformation, it should be a case that anybody who is publishing anything, particularly a professional media outlet, should not want to tell lies. The difficulty with this definition is that, for a for-profit entity, you can publish lies about it as…

The section relates to it being a defence to defamation to give a fair report of proceedings or judgments of courts in this State or in the North of our country. It extends this protection to the courts of any state, essentially. There is a certain practicality to this, particularly in the context of media essentially having become internationalised. I would appreciate it, however, if the Minister…

May I speak-----

-----and perhaps Deputy Gannon will-----

-----be here later? SLAPP suits, which is I think what this section deals with, are of course an abhorrent attempt to place fear of financial ruin particularly on ordinary people or to scare off media outlets that might have a limited budget from taking part in either public life or public discourse. They have no place in a democracy. There cannot be selective prohibition of freedom of expression…

May I speak about the amendment?

I fully support this amendment. It is restrictive in terms of allowing people to go through the Circuit Court to seek the identity of those behind online anonymous publications or posts. Social media in particular is one of the great advances of our time. The right to anonymity on social media can in many ways be positive and allows people to express themselves and engage in public participation a…

That is not agreed.

The Bill.

Committee Stage is not agreed. Is that in order?

I just wanted to let the Minister know the strength of my feelings.

Hear, hear.

It is cloud cuckoo land stuff.

What momentum?

Both the GRA and the AGSI have raised serious questions about the new Garda operating model. Clearly, that model is undermined by the fact there are far too few gardaí to operate it. That is particularly the case with community gardaí. There were only 700 community gardaí at the end of last year compared with over 1,100 at the end of 2011. The Garda has raised serious issues and must be listened t…

The consequences of Government failures on housing are well rehearsed. We have record rents, record homelessness and house prices going up every month, pushing more and more families and workers to the point where homeownership is but a pipe dream. The clear reasons for this are the policies enacted by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, but some of the reasons are less evident. For example, some people ar…

The Taoiseach may have seen reports in the Irish Daily Mail on protected disclosure which detail how confiscated weapons, including automatic firearms, ammunition and explosives, were being held at Garda headquarters in a container secured by a very simple combination lock. The report suggests that much of the weaponry is undocumented and therefore untraceable. Does the Taoiseach agree that this t…

107. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Education the number of students that will be enrolled into the interim special school in County Monaghan in September 2025; if there is capacity at the site of that school to increase enrolment numbers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17182/25]

This time last year, we were told there was no need for a special school in County Monaghan. It took a sustained and dignified campaign by families of children with disabilities, which others and I were proud to support, to lead to the announcement that an interim special school would open in Castleblayney this coming September. Will the Minister of State give an assurance that every child that ne…

I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. To give him some background, last January, I organised a public meeting for families and children with disabilities. We were specifically told by the NCSE at that stage that there were no plans for a special school in Monaghan. For months thereafter, we were told there was a process to decide the locations of special schools, yet no one coul…

As the Minister of State is aware, parents slept outside the gates of Leinster House last week demanding the most basic of human rights, that is, a school place for their child. I met them. I do not know whether the Minister of State got the opportunity to do so but if he did, he would have heard horror stories of children being left behind by the Government and a failed system. I was particularly…

Is ábhar tábhachtach é seo. Caithfimid níos mó a dhéanamh chun stop a chur le daoine óga a bheith páirteach sa choiriúlacht. Ensuring that young people are not drawn into criminality is a crucial part of any effort to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour and make our communities safer. There are two elements to this. First is ensuring that as many young people as possible never actually become in…

Hear, hear.

Was it was not the agreement?

As the Minister said, the motion is necessitated by the commencement of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024. He will be aware that Sinn Féin expressed a number of concerns during the passage of this legislation about some other changes being introduced. We have to recognise that the lack of real oversight and accountability where wrongdoing has taken place has been one of the sign…