Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I register disagreement with my distinguished and much esteemed colleague, Senator Norris, and with the two speakers subsequent to him on this matter. I could give countless examples of why this section is necessary.

I mentioned the Personal Injuries Assessment Board earlier and about a year ago I read in the Irish Independent three pages of inaccuracies relating to its board of directors, of which I am one, which I raised in this House. The inaccuracies hurt many people, though more so those working for the board than its directors. All sorts of allegations were made and I would have welcomed it had the writer been asked to swear the accuracy of the report's contents because they could have been disproved.

I could give examples all day in this regard relating to other bodies corporate. When I was president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, and chair of its executive council I read in the newspaper of people in whose dismissal I was alleged to have colluded. I felt my reputation was damaged by this and it happens regularly that people feel anything can be said about a group of people. I could give ten more examples and I wish I had my day in court to argue about this issue and force these individuals to give their points of view. This legislation would be greatly weakened if this section were not included because instead of pointing at a person, people can point at a body corporate and get away with murder.

I agree with Senator Norris's point on financial loss but this is a case of reputational loss where no financial compensation is required. In the situations I mentioned all I would have sought was a correction of the inaccuracies.

An article by Gene Kerrigan on the entire back page of the Sunday Independent was a diatribe suggesting I was involved in the sacking of the general secretary of a well-known union because of a disagreement I had with him. There was not a scintilla of truth in the article but the ICTU, of which I was president, was supposed to have done this.

Things like this happen and this section is about setting the record straight and having corrections made because damage can be done to the reputation of a body corporate. I watched a television programme last night on something that happened in west Cork 30 years ago and I was part of the making of the programme. Last night's programme was very fair but 30 years ago I felt the body corporate involved, the Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, of which I was then an executive member, was badly treated in the media. At the time I wanted to take action.

I have lived all my life with people hiding behind the fact that one can say anything about a body corporate. Bodies corporate have no defence and are not able to state a case and, therefore, I welcome this section of the Bill, unless I have missed something about it. I feel it is a hugely important section because public participation and involvement in life are suffering. Increasingly, people will not become involved in voluntary bodies and other organisations because of the possibility of reputational damage. I agree with the points made by Senator Norris but I contend they are parallel to the argument I put forward. This section does not detract from the remainder of the Bill. Rather, it offers the possibility of the articulation of a hurt or sense of offence as experienced regularly by persons who are members of corporate bodies.

I could pick up a newspaper every week and point to an article rubbishing some particular group. For example, I do not hold any brief for the FAI but if I were a member of that organisation's executive council, I would be greatly offended by some of the articles that have been written. I am a member of the national management committee of the GAA. I assure Members that I have regularly wished to have a go at those who have made negative comments about our role in agreeing a deal with the Gaelic Players Association, despite our having worked to the best of our ability for two years to get it right. As far as I am aware, all the organisations to which I referred are bodies corporate and, as such, have a legal personality and are registered and so on. Section 11 is helpful in this context.