When is it proposed to deal with the amendments?
Courts Bill, 1980: From the Seanad.
There is agreement that we take them now.
The Dáil went into Committee to consider amendments from the Seanad.
I move: "That the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 1:
Section 12: In page 6, lines 2 to 37 deleted and the following substituted: "1976, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 23:".'
This amendment removes from the Bill the provisions relating to the barring order remedy.
I informed the House on Committee Stage that legislative proposals were at an advanced stage of preparation as a result of a general review of barring order procedures that had been going on in my Department for some time. These are now before the House as the Family Law (Protection of Spouses and Children) Bill, 1981. I do not propose to go into detail at this stage on the contents of that Bill. It is sufficient to say that it will provide additional protection for spouses and children affected by domestic violence and that it includes jurisdiction proposals which are of similar effect to those in paragraph (a) of this section, which are therefore unnecessary in this Bill.
Would the Minister be good enough to explain in a sentence or two the purpose of this amendment?
It is simply removing the barring order provisions as set out in the Courts Bill because they are being catered for in the Family Law (Protection of Spouses and Children) Bill, 1981, which I have already introduced.
I am quite happy to accept that amendment and we can discuss the proposed barring orders and the adequacy or otherwise of such provisions in the context of the Family Law (Protection of Spouses and Children) Bill?
Yes.
Question put and agreed to.
I move: "That the Committee agree with the Seanad in amendment No. 2:
Section 28: In subsection (3), page 14, lines 12 and 13, "commencement of this Act" deleted and "15th day of October, 1980" substituted.
The Bill—subsection (3) of section 28—as it stood prevented the application of the new limit of compensation for mental distress, that is £7,500, to causes of action which accrued before the Bill commences. The justification for this is that in principle defendants should not be made liable for damages other than those appropriate at the time of the occurrence of the accident concerned. I have given further consideration to the matter in the light of the debates in the Dáil and in particular, the amendment which Deputy Keating moved which would, in effect, have deleted subsection (3). I accept that strict adherence to the principle I have mentioned would mean that the limit now proposed should not have effect in proceedings coming before the courts for a number of years to come — possibly up to four — and that the figure of £1,000 would remain in force in these cases. This would, I am satisfied, give rise to hardship and would be clearly out of line with the intention of the Oireachtas as intended in the 1961 Act which set the limit originally. For that reason I now propose that the new limit should apply to all cases where the accident in question occurred on or after the date on which the Bill was presented, that is 15 October 1980. This is a fair and just compromise.
I am grateful to the Minister for recognising the weight of our argument that otherwise there would be an injustice. There are still people, I suppose, who will feel a little offended at the fact that their case which might be settled sometime hence still falls a little short of what we considered to be ideal in terms of the amount of money they should be entitled to in the area of mental distress. The Minister at least has accepted that the injustice initially proposed in the Bill should not prevail. The compromise which he now offers is better than the initial proposition. I am thankful to the Minister for being responsive to our representation in that respect.'
I thank the Deputy for his contribution to the debate.
Question put and agreed to.
Amendment reported and agreed to.
Message to be sent to the Seanad accordingly.