Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I agree with Senators Tuffy and Maurice Hayes. I am somewhat taken aback with the response. Section 24(2) states:

For the purposes of this section, the court shall, in determining whether it was fair and reasonable to publish the statement concerned, take into account such matters as the court considers relevant including any or all of the following . . .

Amendment No. 17 would result in section 24(2)(g) stating:

(g) the extent to which the plaintiff's version of events was represented in the publication concerned and, if not so represented, the extent to which a reasonable attempt was made by the publisher to obtain in advance and publish a response from that person... .

If we leave the subsection as it is we would effectively not place any obligation on a member of the press and the court would not have any great regard to it if no attempt were made to establish from the individual who was defamed whether it was correct. It would be ludicrous for us to allow that to go through. It is a very sensible amendment. If a vote were called I may be put in a position of having to vote against my conscience. This section indicates many of the deficiencies and weaknesses in the Bill. The amendment represents a simple request that should be acknowledged and included. It takes nothing from rights of the media. All it means is that the court will take into account that the journalist or publication made some attempt. It is not even necessary to contact the individual. However, the defendant should be able to give evidence showing an attempt to make contact even if it were not possible to contact the individual. That would be very germane in a case where a defendant pleads a defence that it was done in good faith, and was fair and reasonable in the circumstances. I will come to the point of fair and reasonable publication in a moment because I agree with the insertion of that provision. I strongly urge the Minister of State to reconsider this aspect between now and Report Stage. It is a very minor and commonsense change.