Ivana Bacik (Independent)

As Senator Regan said, it is most unfortunate that we had to vote against this Bill. I speak for Senator O'Toole and others when I say we welcomed much of what was in the Bill and recognised it represents a genuine attempt to reform the law on defamation.

However, the Minister scuppered the general support for the Bill with an ill-judged and unnecessary amendment which was brought in, as Senator Regan said, at very short notice, was subject to a guillotine in the Dáil and with which I fundamentally disagree. This amendment, which gave a statutory definition for the offence of blasphemy, was a most backward and regressive step which was not required by the Supreme Court in the Corway decision. Reading the Corway judgment again, it does not require legislation to be passed providing for a statutory definition of blasphemy.