Brendan Ryan (Labour)

The problem with qualified privilege is that there is no absolute way to determine it other than by way of a court case, in which case the individual can be accused of saying something defamatory and, depending on how the court rules, it may or may not be adjudicated upon. A defendant may be left with a substantial legal bill if he or she is not indemnified, whereas absolute privilege means the person cannot be sued. A person cannot bring me to court on the grounds that I defamed him or her in this House because I have absolute privilege. If the privilege extended to me while speaking here was in any way qualified, I could be sued and it would be up to the courts to decide. That is the difference. I do not want to hold up the House unnecessarily. I do not understand why two different regimes are in place.