Carol Nolan (Offaly, Independent)
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1164. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if he intends to proceed with the proposal to abolish juries in defamation actions in the High Court, given the opposition of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice to this proposal, the widespread opposition expressed by groups (details supplied), and the decision of the Supreme Court in Higgins v. Aviation Authority which substantively addressed many of the concerns which existed in relation to the calculation of defamation awards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11818/25]

Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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The Government respects the strongly and sincerely held but widely differing views of stakeholders on this issue.

High Court defamation cases are part of a small minority of civil cases in which juries are still used. Juries have already been abolished in almost every other type of civil proceedings, most recently under the Courts Act 1988, and juries have already been abolished in Circuit Court defamation cases, with no adverse consequences, since 2009.

The abolition of juries is a central element of the Defamation (Amendment) Bill, which my Department believes is a vital measure to strike the appropriate and necessary balance between the protection of good name and reputation and the right to freedom of expression. Balancing such competing rights is a matter that High Court judges are tasked with doing in every other civil dispute.

In line with the Programme for Government, the existing Bill has been restored to the Order Paper and I look forward to bringing it back to the House for Committee Stage.