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 thank Deputy Ward for his question. He accurately sets out the purpose of amendment No. 19 in respect of the offence of financing terrorism. One of the requirements would be that the prosecution would have to show that the funds were used to commit specific terrorist offences. That was something that was too specific. If somebody gives money for the purpose of terrorist activity, it should not be a requirement on the prosecutor or the State to establish that he or she had knowledge that it was going to be used for a specific terrorist act. Somebody could be acquitted of the offence by saying that he or she did not realise it would be used in, to take the earlier example, the Bataclan, and that the funding he or she provided was for another terrorist offence. It is appropriate that we criminalise the funds being used to commit terrorist offences and that there is not a requirement in the legislation for the offender to know that it is for a specific terrorist offence. The amendment is not going to weaken the laws in respect of trying to combat terrorist financing. In fact, it will probably make it easier to prosecute individuals whose objective has been to finance terrorism. Previously they may have been able to seek to use the defence that they did not seek to fund that specific act and argue that the prosecution must prove that they knew that the funding was for that act. It is important that liability should rest on individuals who know that they are funding terrorist activities, even if they cannot be specifically aware of which terrorist activity is going to be covered by their funding.

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Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-20