Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2025-12-03
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I thank the Senator for his question on what is contained within section 21. As he is aware, alternative dispute resolutions are mechanisms whereby people are encouraged to try to resolve their differences without having to go to a final determination by the courts. The Senator inquired as to whether defendants in defamation proceedings who were not members of the Press Council would be able to be subject to the statutory provisions set out in section 21. I believe they will be and, in fact, the Senator has answered the question in the way I am going to answer it. Section 34M, as proposed to be inserted by section 21, provides that the court, on the application of any party to the proceedings or, indeed, of its own motion, may invite the parties to consider engaging in a specified ADR or provide the parties with information in respect of it. Consequently, a litigant who is not a member of the Press Council but is a publisher in the broader sense of the word would be able to be encouraged by the court to consider alternative dispute resolutions.
Obviously, no litigants, regardless of whether they are a member of the Press Council, can be forced to resolve their dispute outside of court. However, it certainly is the case that the objective shared by the Government and both Houses of the Oireachtas can be achieved through availing of an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. It is a cheaper mechanism, it can be a faster mechanism and it allows both parties to achieve something by way of resolution. As observed on many occasions, with court proceedings that are adversarial, there generally is a winner and a loser. That certainly is the case when it comes to defamation proceedings. The plaintiff either wins his or her case or the defendant succeeds in his, her or its defence. There is always benefit in there being compromise and in individuals seeking to resolve proceedings through settlement or alternative dispute resolutions.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-12-03/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:25+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-12-03