Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I support Deputy Ó Snodaigh's amendment No. 9 and want briefly to speak to my amendment No. 10. The Minister referred earlier to one of the novelties in this legislation being the facility to make an apology without liability. I agree that is important and is an overdue reform of legislation that is not generally controversial. The Minister described circumstances in which a gap could transpire because as the law stands the media owners or the editors of newspapers must clam up, take legal advice and do this and that because if they publish an apology there is an implication, at a minimum, of liability and so on. This a new situation. What is the excuse now for not requiring the publishers to, as soon as practicable, publish the apology? Part of the problem is that the Minister is right that many would make do with an apology and would be happy with that for a variety of reasons, partly because they are not gold-digging, partly because they are fearful about the cost of a court action and so on, but they merely want an apology and to have the record corrected. Why should we not require the media organisations to do that as quickly as possible after the event?

My amendment No. 10 would require the publisher to publish the apology "as soon as practicable after the plaintiff makes complaint to the defendant concerning the utterance to which the apology relates, or after the bringing of the action, whichever is earlier". It is not very helpful, not least if one is in public life, if one finds oneself in these circumstances and gets an apology some nine or 18 months later. Most people will have long forgotten the incident, it only rehashes why one was insulted or defamed in the first place. There is not much value to it. If one is in public life and faces the awesome decision that the Minister faced in Louth where he might get second rather than first preference votes, an election might intervene and the apology come afterwards. I am not sure I understand why the Minister resists requiring the apology to be advanced as early as possible.

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