Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

It would have been along the lines of, for example, a statement that the INTO at its head office systematically defrauds teachers in deducting subscriptions in union dues. That clearly would be a serious defamation of the INTO as an organisation. The question arises whether a corporate body, of itself, can take an action for that. I presume damages then accrue to the profit and loss account in the case of a private company or to the general fund in the case of a trade union.

That is the question arising for decision on this section. There is no precise decision in point in this jurisdiction, and the section was included in the Bill to clarify the law. The issue has arisen for decision in our immediate neighbouring jurisdiction where the highest court has ruled that a trading company can sue for libel and claim damages without the need to prove actual financial loss as the result of the libel.

I accept that if an artificial person can sue for libel, it is difficult to insist that financial loss should have to be proven. The plaintiff does not have to do that in a libel action. It was recognised in English law that a damaging libel could have severe implications for a company and it may lower its standing in the eyes of the public or even its staff. People may be less ready to deal with it or less willing or proud to work for it. These are the difficulties arising from not recognising this.

Difficulties would be placed on businesses if they had to prove a specific loss, not least because specific losses arising from defamatory statements can be difficult to quantify, as demonstrated in previous cases of this nature. We must decide the issue of whether a body corporate of itself has a reputation, which I believe it does.

The more technical issue was raised by Senators McDonald and Walsh, which was how to define bodies corporate. It is a wide definition in the legislation. I reassure Senators that three of the greatest institutions in Irish life, Fianna Fáil, the Gaelic Athletic Association and the Catholic Church——