Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: From the Seanad
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-15
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

The questions put to her on that day at the justice committee still have not been answered. We still do not know the rationale for the changes, the way they were brought about and the urgency with which they were brought about. I just do not think it is appropriate that such new matters were brought into the Bill on every Stage, including during the Stages in the committee and in the Dáil.
I hope the Minister will reflect on all of that over the summer. It is for these reasons that I have opposed the Bill at every stage. It was primarily because of the approach taken to counselling notes, but also the approach taken to the Bill as a whole. This is the reason why I will be voting against the final passage of the legislation. I just want to put that on the record because, notwithstanding that, there are some extremely important legislative changes in this Bill that I do support. Had the Minister taken a different approach, I think he would have had unanimous support in these Houses on every Stage, which should have been the way of doing things when we are dealing with issues that, in many cases, have been long campaigned for. I am thinking of the issue of the retrospective disregarding of convictions for gay men, and other extremely important issues that have come about as a result of decades of campaigning. They should not have been put into a Bill that has become divisive as a result of the political decisions made concerning how this legislation would be pushed through the House.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:08+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-15