Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-28
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Thomas Byrne (FF), Meath East

As I have already said on a number of occasions, the Government, with the assistance of the Attorney General, has carefully considered the Supreme Court's findings in the Costello case. We take everything in the round on that. The amendment seeks to provide a partial definition of the meaning of the term "constitutional order of the State" but the Bill intentionally does not include a definition. This is because the term has previously been referenced by Irish courts in their case law. It would be a matter for determination by the High Court or Supreme Court in any cases regarding the enforcement of awards in the State under the Act. It is for the courts to act as the guardians of the Constitution. It is not for the Executive or indeed for the Parliament to be prescriptive about what constitutes the constitutional order of the State. It is therefore a matter for the courts to determine what constitutes a threat. We believe that the proposed amendment is unnecessary and overly prescriptive and therefore, we are not able to agree to accept it.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:01+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-28