Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Amendments Nos. 23 to 26 support amendments tabled by the Labour Party on Committee Stage regarding the jurisdiction of courts in dealing with applications for declaratory orders under section 26. The Labour Party had proposed to widen the jurisdiction to both District and Circuit Courts in addition to the High Court. Fine Gael supported this proposal. Of course, the District Court has no jurisdiction in defamation. Having consulted with the Attorney General, the Parliamentary Counsel and the Courts Service, I am now proposing to have a declaratory order application process dealt with exclusively by the Circuit Court, rather than the High Court. This approach should provide a much more cost-effective and swift procedure. Thus amendments Nos. 23, 25 and 26 provide the necessary arrangements for the new approach.

In examining the issues raised concerning section 26, I had the opportunity to reconsider the reference to "false" in section 26(1). Having consulted with the Office of the Attorney General, there was a concern that this reference might somehow be interpreted as requiring the applicant of a declaratory order to prove that the statement concerned was false. Such a situation would, of course, reverse the presumption of falsity approach taken in this Bill and make this new remedy less attractive. Thus for the avoidance of doubt, amendment No. 24 provides for a new subsection (3) to ensure the intended purpose, that is, that the applicant does not have to prove the falsity of the statement.

As regards amendment No. 27, section 31, as passed by the Seanad, provided that subject to provisions in the rules of the court, where a plaintiff does not do anything required of him or her within one year, a defendant may apply upon notice of dismissal of the action for defamation. However, current rules of court 122, rule 11, impose no such positive obligation on the plaintiff and allow for up to two years' grace period. Having consulted further with the Office of the Attorney General, I proposed the deletion of the provision on Committee Stage in the Dáil. The effect of that is that the rules of court will continue to apply.