Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Alan Kelly (LAB), Tipperary North

I move amendment No. 11:
In page 9, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:
“PART 2
AMENDMENT OF NON-FATAL OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1997
Amendment of Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997
4. The Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997 is amended by the insertion of the
following section:
“Obstructing free movement of member of House of Oireachtas
9A. A person who, by violent means or any form of intimidation and without lawful authority, obstructs or impedes the freedom of movement to or from any place of a member of either House of the Oireachtas is guilty of an offence and is liable—
(a) on summary conviction to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or
(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.”.”.
This relates to the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. It inserts a provision which relates to every one of us in the Dáil as well as Ministers and Senators. It relates to the obstruction of the free movement of Members of Houses of the Oireachtas. This is particularly pertinent because societally everything has changed. There has been numerous cases where people in this House have not been able to go about their business. We all know there are constitutional protections in relation to access to and from Dáil Éireann but there are also cases where Members of this House, including members of the Government in recent times, have been restricted in their movements for a period of time and the manner by which some people dealt with them was far from acceptable and An Garda Síochána may not have been available at the time.
This amendment makes it an offence to deliberately, and for an ongoing period, obstruct free movement of Members of the Houses of Oireachtas so that a person who, by violent means or any form of intimidation and without lawful authority, obstructs or impedes the freedom of movement to or from any place of a member of either House of the Oireachtas is guilty of an offence. I can guess the Minister’s response will be that this will also need broader consideration but my party and I believe that we need to look broadly at how we will ensure that people who are elected to these Houses can go about their business as representatives of the people of this country, while respecting protest, without being intimidated or unlawfully dealt with or violently threatened in any way, shape or form.

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Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10