I thank Senator Higgins for her amendments. She has put forward two amendments, Nos. 6 and 7, which are identical and which seek the removal of the words "or is likely to cause" in the new section 12 governing defamation of a body corporate. I think it is always important when we are discussing and debating amending legislation that we recall what the underlying existing legislation provides. Colleagues will be aware that, at present, a defamatory statement is defined in the 2009 Act as "a statement that tends to i…

Yes.

It is causation.

Oh dear.

Senator Higgins gave the example of a statement to the effect that a company has been shut down on five occasions in the past ten years. If that statement is absolutely true, no one who I am aware of would contemplate issuing defamation proceedings in respect of it. They would not get a lawyer to stand over it. A solicitor has got to swear an affidavit of verification in respect of it. If it is the case that the company had been shut down on five occasions in the past ten years, I do not see any claim getting off t…

I have no objection. We can go back to section 11.

I thank Deputy Carthy for his question. I did indeed have an opportunity to read the Victims of Sexual Violence Civil Protection Orders Bill he introduced to the House on 26 June. Deputy Carthy's Bill seeks to provide that at the same time as somebody is convicted of a serious sexual offence on indictment the court would impose an order restraining the person convicted of the offence from approaching the victim. It is legislation I will keep under consideration. Before I make a conclusive decision on it, I have to …

I agree with Deputy Carthy when he says we need to empower victims. One issue I may have in respect of his legislation is that the proposal is that at the time of conviction the protection order would be placed on the individual. If we think about it, under the legislation Deputy Carthy proposes the protection order would be put in place at the same time that an individual is sentenced to ten to 15 years imprisonment for a very serious sexual offence, but it would only come into effect at the time the individual le…

I will give consideration to the Bill but I do not want to progress legislation that is unnecessary. In circumstances where a person gets a life sentence for a very serious sexual offence such as rape, when it comes to that person's release many years later, conditions of release will be imposed upon that person. Those conditions can direct that the person shall not go anywhere near the victim or that he or she shall stay away from a town where the victim has resided. I would not like the message to go out that the…

I thank Deputy Kelly. I will come to the issue he focused on, which was financial concerns within An Garda Síochána, but his general question was about the reforms I am going to encourage the new Commissioner to operate or continue with. I have had many engagements with him. One of the priorities I have emphasised to him, which is a priority of my own and of Government, is that I want to see greater Garda visibility. That means having more members recruited into the force and ensuring that, when people are recruite…

In respect of the issue the Deputy highlighted regarding his colleague Deputy Kenny's meeting later today, I am obviously not going to get involved in any individual investigations that may be initiated by An Garda Síochána. With regard to the other items the Deputy highlighted, I cannot shy away from the fact that there have been examples of unwise expenditure in the past. I have emphasised to the Commissioner and will emphasise again here publicly that, when Accounting Officers are spending public money, they hav…

When it comes to financial mismanagement in An Garda Síochána, my primary concern is highlighted by what is in the Comptroller and Auditor General's current report. I note the Deputy has referred to issues that took place back in 2016. They are of concern but my primary concern-----

-----is to ensure that the issues identified in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report are confronted by senior Garda management.

The Deputy will have seen the response from the Garda Commissioner and senior Garda management. They accept the recommendations of the Comptroller and Auditor General. That is a very valuable constitutional office because those who are charged with spending public money must be aware that, if they mismanage the spending of that money, it will be exposed, discussed and debated in this House. I have emphasised to the Commissioner and senior management that they have to be extremely careful with moneys provided to the…

I thank Deputy Murphy for this important question. As he has identified, some additional funding has been provided for legal aid in the budget announced this week. I was very pleased to secure an additional €8 million in funding for the Legal Aid Board. I also managed to secure a 50% increase in funding for free legal advice centres. As the Deputy will be aware, in order for the administration of justice to operate effectively, people must have access to the courts. In many areas, we provide funding for access to t…

I am aware of the minority and majority reports. In many respects, it is beneficial to have two reports. Being realistic, though, my best chance of implementing recommendations is to implement those in the majority report. The Deputy has identified an important area. The area of family law and domestic violence which requires civil orders to be granted is one where it is hard to get other elements of funding provided to it. If somebody wants to take a personal injury case or a contractual case, if they have a good …

Due to the limitations on resources, I do not think I could find myself in a situation where I would just abolish thresholds. In terms of having different thresholds for family law cases and domestic violence cases, applications to the scheme at present predominantly arise in respect of international protection advice being sought and, indeed, family law advice. Those are the two big cohorts of it. My first priority is to try to get the threshold up to €23,500. That would protect a lot of people in the family law s…

The primary principle must be that justice should be administered in public. However, there are exceptions to it. The in camera rule is one of them, which applies generally in family law proceedings. As the Deputy knows, it does not preclude newspapers or journalists attending courts where family law disputes are being heard, but it does preclude them from publishing the identities of individuals. I am pleased to say we have seen some progress in the area. Greater reporting is now taking place in respect of what is…

The Deputy is right that the term and concept of "parental alienation" is highly contested and contentious. It is the case with virtually all family law disputes that they become very contested and contentious. I want to try to ensure that when it comes to a family law dispute involving a child there is a mechanism in place to ensure the voice of that child is heard. The system at present probably relies too much on the production of the reports we spoke about a few moments ago. There is a level of dissatisfaction …

Just to let the Deputy know, in terms of the recommendations of the review I referred to a few moments ago, one is that we produce guidelines on the commissioning, content and use of welfare reports. The Chief Justice has established a judicial committee to develop guidelines on the commissioning, content and use of welfare reports. It is being chaired by Ms Justice Nuala Jackson of the High Court and is being supported by my Department. It is expected to conclude its work shortly. We need to ensure, if reports are…