Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Gerard P. Craughwell (IND), Labour Panel

I am just a little concerned. Frequently, we hear orders from the courts with respect to reporting and there are restrictions placed on using names, etc. Let us consider the following. A story goes to a journalist and on Friday afternoon they send an email to a Member of this House saying they will publish the Member's name in the Sunday newspaper in a story that says the Member was involved in an inappropriate act with a minor. Can the minor and the politician be named under this subsection (3)? Is it fair to actually put names in the newspaper in an allegation even if it is not a minor and the person has reached majority? Is it fair to name two people where there may be circumstances when the judge who gets the case in the first instance believes that there should be restrictions on reporting? Have we usurped the right of a judge with this subsection (3) to place restrictions on reporting, given that it has been reported before it gets into the court? I would just like a bit of clarification on that.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21