Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-24
============================================================

Frances Black (IND), Industrial and Commercial Panel

Amendment No. 12 is about democratic accountability. What we are asking for is fairly straightforward. We are proposing that any order made under section 9, which relates to calling out the Defence Forces in aid of the civil power, should require a resolution passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas. I do not think the Minister should be able to take a decision of that weight alone. Section 9 deals with the deployment of the Defence Forces domestically, which is not a minor or routine matter. It is an exceptional measure. Exceptional measures require exceptional oversight. I do not believe the decision to deploy military personnel in support of civil authorities should rest with the Minister alone.
We in the Seanad have a role to play in scrutinising and checking executive power. This amendment does not prevent the Minister from acting. It simply requires that both Houses of the Oireachtas are brought into the decision. That is not an obstacle to good governance; it is actually good governance.
I want to be clear about what this amendment is not. It is not an attempt to obstruct legitimate security operations. In urgent circumstances, the Minister retains the power to act and this amendment ensures that such actions are subsequently accountable to this Parliament and the Oireachtas. That balance between executive flexibility and democratic oversight is exactly what the Oireachtas should be insisting on. It is a measured, proportionate amendment and it asks only that decisions of real constitutional weight are subject to parliamentary approval.

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24