Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make a number of comments. Senator Ward, in ebullient style, decided to commence his contribution on the basis that most of the criticism of this Bill was nonsense. I do not accept that. While I accept that much of the criticism is nonsense and that many keyboard warriors have written exaggerated and overblown criticisms of the Bill and about its threat to our society, when the Irish Council of Civil Liberties says that there are problems with the Bill that have not yet been addressed, it is not nonsense to say that we must consider it carefully. When there are faults with the legislation that appear to some of us, at any rate, to be serious ones, it is not fair to dismiss the matter as nonsense.

Senator Pauline O'Reilly stated that all rights could be limited in the interests of the common good, but that is not the test. The Constitution is different; the Constitution actually guarantees rights. What this House believes about the common good is not the test of the extent to which those rights can be curtailed. In particular, freedom of speech and the free expression of views are only subject to public order and morality. That is the test. We may want to have a kinder society, as Senator Flynn mentioned, and a better society where we are kinder and more decent to one another. Those matters are undoubtedly part of the common good, but they do not justify-----