Vol. 461 No. 4
36 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the progress, if any, that has been made in considering the proposals of the law reform commission with regard to the civil law of defamation; the legislative proposals, if any, he intends bringing forward in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3077/96]
The report of the Law Reform Commission will obviously be a key document when it comes to making decisions on policy changes in the area of defamation. However, in deciding on such important matters, the Government would also wish to be in a position to draw on the work of the Commission on the Newspaper Industry which has been established with very comprehensive terms of reference which include an examination of the laws of defamation as they affect that industry.
With regard to any legislative proposals which may be brought forward, my Department is already committed to a programme which involves fundamental reform in the broad area of family law and equality law. These have been, and they remain, priority areas for me and until such time as the necessary progress has been made on them, the reality is that the attention which can be paid to certain other areas such as defamation must, of necessity, be limited.
