Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Part 7 amends the Judicial Council Act 2019. The purpose of these amendments is twofold. First, they allow for the temporary replacement of a member of the complaints review committee by providing for an alternate member of the committee to substitute for the absence of a member in additional circumstances. The amendment also provides for the recusal and replacement of a judicial member of the committee in circumstances where the judge in question is the subject of a complaint or otherwise has a conflict of interest in the context of a complaint. The second purpose of these amendments is to clarify the role of the Judicial Council's investigations into the conduct of a judge and to provide for investigations of judicial misconduct in the absence of, or after withdrawal of, a complaint.

Part 8 amends miscellaneous Acts relating to the courts. These include an amendment to section 39 of the Offences against the State Act 1939 to authorise the Courts Service to appoint registrars to a Special Criminal Court in recognition of the position that all such registrars are appointed from among Courts Service staff. The Court Officers Act 1945 is also being amended to allow for the introduction of an offence of obstruction of, or interference with, a sheriff. This will provide legislative protection for sheriffs in the discharge of their functions. The amendment to the Courts Act 1964 seeks to cure an anomaly regarding the date on which proceedings in the District Court are considered to be commenced for the purpose of the Statute of Limitations. The final amendment in this Part is to the Courts Service Act 1998 and will ensure the Courts Service's strategic plan is approved by the incoming Courts Service board rather than by the outgoing board as is the current position.

The final Part, Part 9, contains five sections amending miscellaneous Acts in a number of important areas of civil law. It includes an amendment to the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 to substitute the word "licence" for "permit" in section 28(11). This will correct a textual error which will resolve an issue that appears to prevent prosecutions for failure to comply with licence conditions. The amendment to the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 clarifies the text of section 11B which enables relatives of a child, and other adults who reside or previously resided with a child, to apply to court for an order giving access to the child.

The amendment to the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 will classify as civil servants, for pension purposes only, those solicitors who retired from the Legal Aid Board prior to 1 June 2014. This is required because section 11 of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 designated serving Legal Aid Board solicitors as civil servants with effect from 1 June 2014 whereas they had previously been classified as public servants.

The amendment to the Immigration Act 2004 will be split into two parts. The first will fix a typographical issue. The second will provide that permission to land or be in the State can be renewed or varied without the non-national holder of the permission having to make an application for such renewal in every case.

There will also be two amendments to the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020. The first amendment will clarify that the holding of hearings remotely shall be optional for bodies designated under that Act, depending on their needs or requirements. The second amendment will insert a new section in the Act to provide for the interference with hearings held remotely under the Act to be considered an offence.

I will now turn to the amendments I intend to propose on Committee Stage. Earlier this year, I received Government approval to reform duty of care legislation, which is a key insurance reform measure and a very important part of the Government's overall action plan for insurance reform. I propose to bring forward a number of amendments to the Occupiers' Liability Act 1995 in line with Justice Plan 2022 and the Government's policy objective of restricting the liability of occupiers. As I have said, I believe these proposals strike the right balance between ensuring that businesses, community groups, organisations and organisers of events fulfil their duty of care responsibilities while also acknowledging the importance of the personal responsibility of visitors, recreational users and trespassers.

Additional amendments will also include measures aimed at further assisting the modernisation of our courts system and helping to drive efficiencies. This will include amendments on court offices and court officers, centralising the functions of summoning jurors and a number of other related areas that will drive improvements in court processes.

I plan to propose a number of amendments to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. These will include amendments regarding the levy model that funds the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, LSRA. These amendments are based on the recommendations set out in the 2015 review of the operation of the Legal Services Regulation Act, which was published in March 2019. These changes will modernise the model used and ensure the LSRA can fulfil its full mandate.

Amendments to the Bankruptcy Act 1998 are also being prepared. These relate to the reform of the process for registering the vesting of a bankrupt's property in the official assignee after bankruptcy adjudication. They will also provide for the official assignee in bankruptcy to make inquiries and provide information on the personal data of a bankrupt person as are necessary and proportionate to the effective performance of his or her statutory functions. In addition, provision will be made to authorise public bodies to provide the requested information to the official assignee on foot of such an inquiry.

I intend to introduce further amendments to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. I know it has been a cause for concern for some that children born in Ireland to non-Irish parents do not have an automatic entitlement to citizenship. The Government believes that providing a shorter pathway to citizenship is the right thing to do for these children. My officials continue to work with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the drafting of amendments to the Act to reduce from five to three the number of years' residence required for children born in the State to become eligible for citizenship by naturalisation. This will allow children who are currently on a pathway to Irish citizenship to attain this status at an earlier stage. The amendments will provide a clear and specific procedure that will apply where a citizenship application is made for a child.

The Government has also approved the introduction of amendments to this Act to make further provision for the continuous residence condition for naturalisation. This matter was the subject of High Court and Court of Appeal judgments in 2019 in the case of Jones v.Minister for Justice and Equality. I intend to bring forward on Committee Stage a provision aimed at addressing a minor anomaly in section 7 of this Act on the entitlement to Irish citizenship of grandchildren of Irish citizen officials posted abroad in the public service.

I intend to introduce a number of amendments to the Data Protection Act 2018.

These will include measures to ensure data subjects have third-party beneficiary rights in primary law and amendments clarifying confidentiality obligations and the powers of the Data Protection Commission in regard to its issuance of reprimands. A further proposed amendment will, for the first time, confer jurisdiction to hear data protection actions in the District Court. As matters currently stand, the Circuit Court and High Court are the only courts that can hear such actions. Enabling the District Court to hear these actions will improve citizens' access to justice when initiating data protection actions and should reduce the associated costs for both data subjects taking a case and those providing a defence to claims.

I will provide for unincorporated bodies, such as golf clubs and voluntary committees, to conduct their meetings remotely, notwithstanding any internal rules of the body requiring in-person meetings. This provision will be similar to that which was included in the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 during the Covid pandemic. However, that provision was linked to the pandemic and has since expired. This new provision will not be related to any public health situation.

I hope to introduce an amendment to section 7A of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961, which will permit a single judge to review appeals. This will be provided with a view to improving efficiency and costs associated with the Court of Appeal.

I plan on introducing an amendment to the Succession Act 1965 to allow district probate registrars to certify a particular part of the process rather than, as matters stand, the district registrar, thereby streamlining the process.

I will amend the Civil Liability Act 1961 to provide for an alternative indexation rate for periodic payment orders to be considered, if more suitable, so they can be set out by regulations made by the Minister for Justice with the consent of the Minister for Finance. I also hope to include a provision allowing courts to deal with cost orders in writing unless there is a need for an oral hearing.

I also intend to update the definition of "civil proceedings" in section 10 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 and to make express reference to criminal proceedings within the meaning of Part 4 of the Act, which will clarify the holding of proceedings, especially in relation to the operation of the Criminal Assets Bureau.

Finally, Part 15 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 provides for the making of regulations by the Minister for Justice for a pre-action protocol relating to clinical negligence actions. However, I have been informed that difficulties have arisen regarding the statutory basis for making pre-action protocol regulations pursuant to Part 15. I intend to bring forward amending legislation to address these difficulties for enactment as part of this Bill. The introduction of pre-action protocols is an important commitment in Justice Plan 2022.

I am considering recommending to the Government that an amendment to the Arbitration Act 2010 be included in this Bill at a later stage. This amendment would permit third-party funding in limited circumstances, specifically in commercial arbitration. This update to the legislation will have a positive impact and benefit to the international perception of the Irish legal framework, while removing any doubts regarding the ability to enforce arbitral awards in the State.

I appreciate this is wide-ranging Bill for which I have set out a number of important amendments, and I propose to bring more amendments on Committee Stage. The reason for me bringing many amendments at a later stage is that, as is the case with any miscellaneous Bill, there is always something to be added. It is important, however, that we get this Bill into the House and passed as quickly as possible. That is why I have set it out in this way and indicated the further work that is being done and will be completed by the time we reach Committee Stage. I thank the Deputies for taking time to consider these issues. Many of these issues, some of which are very minor and others more substantial, will make the law more efficient and effective in the areas that have been addressed. I look forward to hearing their comments.

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