Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2025-11-12
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Sharon Keogan (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I move amendment No. 10b:
In page 13, between lines 12 and 13, to insert the following new section:
“ Amendment of section 31 of Principal Act
17 . The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following new section after section 31:
“ Caps on damages in defamation actions
31A. (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), in any defamation action before the High Court the amount of general damages (including damages for injury to reputation, hurt feelings or distress) shall not exceed €250,000.
(2) Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the total award of damages in any defamation action before the High Court, including general damages, aggravated damages and exemplary damages, shall not exceed €400,000.
(3) Subsections (1) and (2) shall not apply to an award of special damages, being damages proven to represent actual pecuniary loss suffered by the plaintiff.
(4) The limits provided for in subsections (1) and (2) shall not affect the jurisdictional monetary limit of the Circuit Court as set out in section 22 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013 or any enactment amending or replacing it.
(5) The Minister may, by order made with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, amend the monetary amounts specified in subsections (1) and (2) having regard to—
(a) changes in the value of money (including reference to the Consumer Price Index), and
(b) the need to ensure that awards of damages remain proportionate and consistent with comparable awards in other areas of law.
(6) An order made under subsection (5) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and shall, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within 21 sitting days of that House after the order is laid before it, be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”.”.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-11-12/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:18+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-12