Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-25
============================================================

Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

As amendment No. 33 is the only amendment to this important part of this legislation, I might respond to it. As Senator Harmon has said, the amendment concerns section 53(1)(d), which provides that where there is no immediate family member willing or able to apply for a disregard in respect of a relevant person who is deceased, another relative may make such an application provided there is no objection from an immediate family member. The proposed amendment suggests that we provide that in addition to a relative, such an application may also be made by a "partner, or other demonstrably trusted person to the relevant person". It is important to look at the very broad definition of "relative" contained within section 51 of the legislation. It states:
“relative” means, in relation to a relevant person who is deceased, a brother, step-brother, sister, step-sister, grandchild, uncle, aunt, niece, nephew, grandniece or grandnephew of the relevant person.
The amendment proposes that this would now include a "partner, or other demonstrably trusted person to the relevant person". While I accept the good intentions of the proposed amendment, there are several reasons I cannot accept it. First, partners are already captured in the Bill. In fact, they are included in the definition of "immediate family member" in section 51, which is something I should have referred to a few moments ago. The definition in question refers to a "civil partner, cohabitant, partner or child of the relevant person". This means that such people are included in the first order category of persons who may make an application on behalf of a deceased person, rather than in the relatives category, which the Senator's amendment would effectively align them with and consign them to. A relative, as defined in the Bill, may only make an application where there is no objection from an immediate family member.
A second difficulty with the amendment is that the term "demonstrably trusted person to the relevant person" is a very vague term. It could present significant difficulties for statutory interpretation or in practice when determining what is meant by "demonstrably trusted". How do we demonstrate the person was "demonstrably trusted" by the deceased person? How is it to be assessed and applied in a consistent way?
Third, and fundamentally, when it comes to deceased persons, there may in some cases be real privacy concerns and other sensitivities around reopening what may be a painful chapter of family history for the surviving families or partner of the deceased. It may be deeply personal or divisive within the family. It is not necessarily a matter in which someone external, such as a friend of the deceased, should get involved, regardless of how close they may have been to the deceased. Equally, in my view, what makes a disregard for a deceased person truly meaningful is where it is sought by someone with an indisputable and tangible link to the deceased person, whether by blood, marriage or a committed intimate relationship, which of course includes partner or civil partner.
For these reasons, the question of seeking a disregard for a deceased person should ultimately be a matter for those persons specified in the legislation. It is also worth bearing in mind that many comparable schemes in other jurisdictions do not make any provision for disregard on behalf of deceased persons or are very limited in who may apply in such cases. The Bill, as drafted, strikes an appropriate balance by enabling applications from a wide range of family members, partners and relatives. I know the Senator has expressed her intention to withdraw the amendment, but I just wanted to make those points on it.

---

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/2026-06-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-25