Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Apologies to Deputy Richmond, but I am due in the Seanad Chamber at 12 noon and it is unlikely I will get back before the meeting is finished. I will tag on to some of the Deputy Richmond's questions. I take on board the Commissioner's comments around the European Public Prosecutor's Office, EPPO. It is really useful information for us to know that relationship is not running so smoothly. I will not cover the same ground as Deputy Richmond in terms of Ukraine, but I want to concur with his remarks around the disparity in the response of some member states to sanctions. The heavy lifting is not being done by everybody and that needs to be addressed more forcefully. The Commissioner's commentary has been quite kind on all fronts. He has been very measured. However, stronger language may be needed from the Commission to deal with that, because resentment will set in if everybody is not doing their fair share.

I want to touch on two areas. The first is in the area of defamation law and the challenges identified there. The Commissioner focused primarily on protection of journalists and I fully agree with his remarks in that regard. We are having particular difficulties in this country around the chilling effect that some defamation suits are having on political life and politicians. There have been accusations that some Members of the Oireachtas and people outside who may be linked to particular political parties could potentially be using defamation suits as a way to stifle debate in the Oireachtas. That charge has been laid. It is of concern to both Houses if that is potentially happening. Has the Commission looked at this in terms of defamation laws? I know the Commissioner has put a direct question or challenge to us to come up with ideas as to how to deal with this. We are trying to do that, but if he had any suggestions or ideas from the Commission that would also be helpful. This is the kind of thing we need to nip in the bud. If it beds in and becomes acceptable or somehow normalised then we will have big problems. There is already a chilling impact on the Oireachtas in terms of Members being more cautious and curtailing their own comments, for fear they might end up in that situation. A big challenge was identified by the Commissioner when he spoke about the Judiciary, and it is in some ways linked. It is about accessing the Judiciary and accessing the justice system, and the costs involved in accessing it. If you have money you are essentially better protected and have more access. That is something we have struggled with for many years. We have not really made much headway in that regard. I also think a particular challenge with defamation cases is not only the huge costs involved in taking and defending an action, but the damages and awards that come out of those cases. Those two issues go in tandem. I believe they go hand in hand. I also take on board comments about the number of judges not being sufficient in terms of the population. That is again useful information for us to have at the committee and to be able to take back in our work. I will leave it there. I thank the members for allowing me to come in early.