James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, with the Chair's permission, I will make some brief introductory remarks as this is a large Bill with a number of variable amendments. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022. This Bill introduces a number of important reforms in the law across a broad range of areas. These amendments reach across many aspects of people's lives and have the potential to make a real difference.

I acknowledge that there are a large amount of amendments to this Bill. A large number of the amendments before the committee today were heads included in the original published general scheme that required further drafting and were not ready when the Bill was published. These include court-related amendments that will facilitate centralisation and automation of certain court offences and processes. This is part of a suite of measures my Department continues to introduce, which will improve access to justice and modernise the courts system. The volume also reflects the desire to use the opportunity that a miscellaneous provisions Bill brings to make the necessary corrections and updates to various legislation that otherwise would take significantly more time to progress and delay the delivery of the reform needed.

The Bill includes amendments across a diverse range of areas, including bankruptcy, Irish nationality and citizenship, international protection, immigration, legal services, data protection and third-party funding. The amendments proposed by this Bill will have a positive impact on citizens, assist in making our courts and legal services more accessible, update the civil justice legal framework and further modernise and reform.

It is intended to bring forward a small number of further amendments on Report Stage. These are amendments that require some further drafting and were not ready for today. They include amendments to section 46 of the Bankruptcy Act 1988 and a new section 61B; amendments to the Data Protection Act 2018 on the enforcement of third-party beneficiary rights, confidentiality obligations and the issuance of reprimands; amendments to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 to provide for a change to the levy model of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, LSRA; some additional amendments to courts legislation in relation to matters, including court officers; and an amendment to section 14 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020.

Officials are examining a number of further matters concerning naturalisation and citizenship. Amendments may also be brought forward enabling Tusla to apply for naturalisation on behalf of a child who is in care, under the Child Care Act 1991, to make provision in the continuous residence provisions for cases where the absence of a child from the State was connected with the situation of a child's guardian or of a person in loco parentisto the child and to provide for any further minor amendments to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, arising from amendments brought forward from today.

I wanted to alert committee members to those further amendments that may be necessary or brought forward on Report Stage and which, unfortunately, we were not in a position to introduce today.