Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I confirm that I am speaking on behalf of my Department. My officials are very much disposed towards engaging with everybody on this issue because they want justice to be administered properly and people's rights to be vindicated.

We have a concern with the term "chilling effect" being used all the time because we want to encourage people to use the WRC, not to be afraid to use it and the legislation allows for that. We cannot bring forward a statutory provision that expressly anticipates victimisation or penalisation of a person. We must assume that people will use the law to vindicate their rights and not be afraid to use it. For that reason, I do not refer to a chilling effect. While I recognise that people might have concerns, we want to be able to say it should not happen because a person is entitled to have his or her rights vindicated. That is what justice is about and that is what we are about as well. Any future Minister of State in my seat or departmental officials will engage in 12-monthly reviews with the appropriate personnel who are familiar with the situation.

See this speech in context