Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Fahey, to the House and the officials from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The Tánaiste was in the House earlier.

One's reputation lives forever. When people die, their next of kin either carry on their good names or must live with possible shame. That is the reason this Bill is particularly important. I commend the fact that the Minister has had widespread consultation in that regard. He has presented us with a Bill of the highest quality. I say that having read the Bill and an article, Defamation Law in Ireland, by Kieron Wood, a barrister, from which I intend to quote for the record. That article outlines the background to defamation law in Ireland. It states, "... because of the importance of educating public opinion, the State will try to ensure that the organs of public opinion such as the radio and the press [it doesn't mention television] keep their right to liberty of expression, but they shall not be used to undermine public order, morality or an authority of the State". It is a very good document and anyone interested in this legislation should examine that area.

I will deal specifically with one area, namely, defamation of the dead. The Minister stated:

The Bill does not provide for the defamation of the dead, an issue which arose during the consultation period. It does, however, provide that on the death of a person, a cause of action for defamation vested in him or her immediately before death should survive for the benefit of the estate. Similarly, it also provides that a cause of action in defamation subsisting against a person should survive his or her death and lie against the estate.

I was in the course of preparing a defamation of the dead Bill. I suggest the Minister should consider including a section in this Bill before Committee and Report Stages to the effect that families would have a right to sue newspapers for defaming the dead. I refer specifically to the case involving the late Deputy, Liam Lawlor. Liam Lawlor died in a tragic accident in Moscow. He was seriously defamed in an article in the Sunday Independent, which was published on the day of the Fianna Fáil Ard-Fheis in Killarney. It came as a shock to all of us to learn that Liam died in such tragic circumstances but then we learned that his wife and family had to deal with the fact that her beloved husband and their beloved father was defamed in such an uncaring way. Nobody in the Sunday Independent, including the editor, has taken direct responsibility for that. It is important to ensure newspapers are aware that if they defame the dead, they will be liable. I am particularly keen to see this legislation passed.

State law in Quebec, Canada and in Rhode Island in the United States allow civil actions in such cases. I have studied that area and am aware that a similar law exists in Germany and was used recently to convict historian, David Irving, who made derogatory comments about members of the Jewish community killed by the Nazis during World War II. That case was successfully fought at the time. I am delighted to have an opportunity to go into the legislation in more detail in that respect.

A book was published in the United States in which President Lyndon B. Johnson was accused of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It sold 75,000 copies. The content of the book was totally untrue yet efforts were made to denigrate President Johnson by association with that tragic assassination in 1963.

When the debate on the Bill resumes, I will appeal to the Minister to make provision to allow the next of kin take action in case of serious defamation and libel of a deceased individual. One has nothing but one's good name and under this Bill, one can now defend one's reputation in the courts. In the case of one who has died, however, nobody can defend his or her good name.