Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 13, to delete lines 9 to 11.

I move to recommit this amendment, which arises as a consequence of the enactment of the Defamation Act 2009. As currently drafted, section 22(6) provides that witnesses giving evidence before an arbitral tribunal are to have the same privileges and immunities as witnesses have in proceedings before the High Court. Essentially, what we are talking about here is privilege in the context of defamation proceedings. The matter contemplated here is now dealt with by the Defamation Act 2009 which entered into force on 1 January of this year. That Act deals comprehensively with all of the occasions when absolute privilege can be pleaded as a defence. Specifically, in regard to arbitration, it provides that absolute privilege will attach to statements made in the course of proceedings before an arbitral tribunal where the statement is connected with those proceedings. Accordingly, the section 22 provision is no longer necessary and I am proposing that it be deleted.

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