Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-20
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I move amendment No. 17:
In page 7, to delete lines 35 and 36, and in page 8, to delete lines 1 to 6 and substitute the following:
“(a) in subsection (1), by—
(i) the substitution of “Subject to subsections (2C), (2D), (2E), (2F) and (2G), a person guilty” for “A person guilty”,
(ii) the substitution, in paragraph (d), of “subject to paragraph (f), to imprisonment” for “to imprisonment”,
(iii) the substitution, in paragraph (e), of—
(I) “paragraph (e)” for “paragraph (c)” in subparagraph (i),
(II) “paragraph (f)” for “paragraph (d)” in subparagraph (ii), and
(III) “paragraph (g)” for “paragraph (e)” in subparagraph (iii),”,
(iv) the insertion, in paragraph (e), of the following subparagraph:
“(iv) in paragraph (h) or (i) of that definition, on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.”,
(v) the insertion of the following paragraph:
“(f) in the case of an offence consisting of an act referred to in paragraph (c) of the definition of ‘terrorist activity’ committed by a person who—
(i) when committing that offence, was also committing an offence under section 6 of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998, and
(ii) by virtue of the said paragraph (d) would, but for this paragraph, be liable to a maximum term of imprisonment of less than 8 years,
to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 8 years.”,”.
These amendments relate to section 7 of the principal Act, which provides for penalties for terrorist offences. Section 6 of the Bill, as it currently stands, amends section 7 of the principal Act to include penalties for the new offences the Bill introduces. The amendments I am proposing will reframe section 6, with the changes largely driven by technical requirements on foot of the 2017 directive and the cross-referencing of sections the penalty provisions need to link to.
Amendment No. 17 deletes and replaces subsection (a) of section 6 of the Bill. Subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of subsection (a) amend section 7(1) of the principal Act, and their purpose is to signpost later penalty subsections that the earlier provisions in subsection (1) are to now be subject to. Subparagraphs (iii) and (iv) of subsection (a) address numbering changes resulting from prior amendments which change the format and numbering of subcategories within the definition of "terrorist activity" and "terrorist linked activity", as discussed under amendment No. 7. Changes are thus necessitated in section 7 of the principal Act to signpost accurately the updated definition sections that are to be linked to the penalties that section 7 provides for.
The amendment that subparagraph (v) of subsection (a) addresses relates to a requirement in paragraph 3 of Article 15 of the directive that where the offence of threatening terrorism is committed by a person directing a terrorist group, the maximum sentence for the threat offence shall not be less than eight years. This amendment ensures that this requirement is adhered to.
Amendment No. 18 carries on with amendments to section 6 of the Bill. It inserts a subsection (c), which again amends section 7 of the principal Act relating to penalty provision. Subsection (c) results in, first, the insertion of a subsection (2C) into section 7 of the principal Act, which relates to the requirement of Article 18 of the directive, discussed previously under amendment No. 16, that requires that fines be imposed on companies convicted of terrorist offences. Second, it results in the insertion of subsections (2D), (2E), (2F) and (2G) into section 7 of the principal Act to clarify that penalties for the "attempt" and "threat" offences are linked to the same penalty provisions for the substantive offences being attempted or threatened. Third, it replaces the definition of “corresponding offence”, currently in section 7(3) of the principal Act, with a new definition. The change does not substantially alter the meaning, however. The term “corresponding offence”, when referenced in section 7, remains as referring to those offences listed in Schedule 2 that are linked to the terrorist offence being penalised, with the penalties for those Schedule 2 offences providing the first step to establishing the penalty for the terrorist offence at issue. The updated definition is intended to provide clarity, with more robust language. It is broken down into two categories, one in respect of the "terrorist activity" offence and one respect of the "terrorist linked activity" offence.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-20