Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024: From the Seanad
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-11
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I will say a few brief words. I am back, a Cheann Comhairle, from a lengthy sojourn in the Seanad, which I have to say was interesting and productive. I think I was in the Seanad for over 28 hours on Committee and Report Stages but it was a worthwhile engagement. As a result of the contributions from Senators in the House, I am coming here with five amendments to the legislation.
Amendments Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, are changes to section 11 of the Bill, which, as colleagues will know, were substantive changes to section 26 of the original Act. It was introduced on Report Stage in this House to amend section 26 of the 2009 Act by providing for a simpler and more concise defence of publication on a matter of public interest. Concerns were raised in Seanad Éireann that section 11 removed the important element of “fairness” from the defence of fair and reasonable publication. Amendments Nos. 1 to 3, inclusive, respond to those concerns.
Amendment No. 3 places the concept of fairness front and centre of the defence and clarifies that in order to avail of the defence, the publication must be fair in all the circumstances of the case. It goes on to set out that this will only occur where the publication can objectively be considered in the public interest and where the publisher, acting in good faith, reasonably believed this to be the case having conducted appropriate checks and inquiries. Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 alter the title of the amended defence to make it clear that fairness is a key element of the defence.
The amendments seek to balance the concerns expressed in the Seanad with concerns raised during the review of the 2009 Act that the application of an entirely separate test of fairness and reasonableness in the existing section 26 defence was overly complex.
I recommend that the House accepts these three amendments.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-11