Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Maria McCormack (SF), Labour Panel

I spoke on this already but I welcome the Government's acceptance of the amendment put forward by our justice spokesperson, Deputy Matt Carthy. It is an important amendment. It is an important reform that will strengthen fairness and accountability in the courts. That is what is really important here. As the Minister said, this amendment requires character references for all indictable offences to be given under oath or by affidavit. It extends protections that previously applied only in sexual offence cases. I am delighted. I hope that this can be a trend going forward that we can look for justice reform that comes from the Opposition in the best interest of the public.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02