Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister of State will appreciate, one of the strongest elements of our democracy is the energy and commitment of our community and activist groups. These are ordinary citizens who band together to enter into debate, to bring attention to injustice and to lift up their voices. I have had positive experiences with these groups and these people, even when we disagree. That is why I am so disheartened to see a shadow cast over this community over the past few weeks.

As the Minister of State will no doubt be aware, there has been a lot of public discourse on defamation. I welcome the Government's commitment to legislate against strategic lawsuits against public participation, SLAPPs in the coming months. These are meritless or vexatious lawsuits taken by powerful individuals or organisations against weaker parties who express an opinion or convey information on a public matter that is perceived as unfavourable or uncomfortable to the powerful. However, I have been made aware of a further unseen layer of this activity that would not, and could not, be impacted by the proposed legislation. While SLAPP legislation will address initiated legal action, often on defamation, as far as I understand it, it will not cover actions prior to that initiation and their interaction with non-disclosure agreements, NDAs. What I am describing is a process whereby a person or entity instructs a legal representative to write a letter threatening legal action, sometimes demanding an apology, usually demanding some financial restitution and, increasingly and more worryingly, demanding the signing of an NDA, all without any court being troubled at any time. The Coalition against SLAPPs in Europe is tracking cases like this and would welcome hearing from anyone impacted by them, as would I.

To provide an example, a columnist in one of our national newspapers, Mr. David Quinn, has threatened legal action against a member of a group advocating for safe access zones for women accessing abortions. He has asked not only for money and an apology, but also the signing of an NDA. Mr. Quinn has targeted this group in his columns before and his opinions cannot reasonably be disentangled from those of his employer, the Iona Institute. This is relevant because we know that foreign money is flooding into Ireland and other European countries to stoke discord. In 2021, the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights published a report called The Tip of the Iceberg. That report outlined the Iona Institute's interaction with funds from Fondazione Novae Terrae. This foundation bankrolls activity against what it describes as new or secular rights such as reproductive rights, marriage equality and trans rights. The possible involvement of the Iona Institute here is relevant because its 2020 financial statements showed that it did not incur legal expenses. If its director enjoys the same luxury, a great many activists and groups in Ireland could have received similar letters from Mr. Quinn but, of course, neither we nor the Government will ever know that because the NDAs are in place and the matters in question will never get to court. I ask that any review of the Defamation Act 2009, any SLAPP legislation and any legislation at all in this area would examine what additional protections can be put in place for activists and groups in the pre-court phase of this type of activity.

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