Select Committee on Justice debate -
Tuesday, 22 Nov 2022

Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022: Committee Stage

Chairman

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy James Browne, and his officials. I also welcome the members of the committee.

The meeting has been convened to consider Committee Stage of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022 and the Minister of State is here for that purpose. Some members may attend remotely and I ask everybody to note that if a division is called, members must be physically present in the committee room.

Before we debate the Bill section by section, perhaps the Minister of State wishes to make some opening remarks.

Minister of State at the Department of Justice (Deputy James Browne)

Yes, with the Chair's permission, I will make some brief introductory remarks as this is a large Bill with a number of variable amendments. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2022. This Bill introduces a number of important reforms in the law across a broad range of areas. These amendments reach across many aspects of people's lives and have the potential to make a real difference.

I acknowledge that there are a large amount of amendments to this Bill. A large number of the amendments before the committee today were heads included in the original published general scheme that required further drafting and were not ready when the Bill was published. These include court-related amendments that will facilitate centralisation and automation of certain court offences and processes. This is part of a suite of measures my Department continues to introduce, which will improve access to justice and modernise the courts system. The volume also reflects the desire to use the opportunity that a miscellaneous provisions Bill brings to make the necessary corrections and updates to various legislation that otherwise would take significantly more time to progress and delay the delivery of the reform needed.

The Bill includes amendments across a diverse range of areas, including bankruptcy, Irish nationality and citizenship, international protection, immigration, legal services, data protection and third-party funding. The amendments proposed by this Bill will have a positive impact on citizens, assist in making our courts and legal services more accessible, update the civil justice legal framework and further modernise and reform.

It is intended to bring forward a small number of further amendments on Report Stage. These are amendments that require some further drafting and were not ready for today. They include amendments to section 46 of the Bankruptcy Act 1988 and a new section 61B; amendments to the Data Protection Act 2018 on the enforcement of third-party beneficiary rights, confidentiality obligations and the issuance of reprimands; amendments to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 to provide for a change to the levy model of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority, LSRA; some additional amendments to courts legislation in relation to matters, including court officers; and an amendment to section 14 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020.

Officials are examining a number of further matters concerning naturalisation and citizenship. Amendments may also be brought forward enabling Tusla to apply for naturalisation on behalf of a child who is in care, under the Child Care Act 1991, to make provision in the continuous residence provisions for cases where the absence of a child from the State was connected with the situation of a child's guardian or of a person in loco parentis to the child and to provide for any further minor amendments to the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, arising from amendments brought forward from today.

I wanted to alert committee members to those further amendments that may be necessary or brought forward on Report Stage and which, unfortunately, we were not in a position to introduce today.

SECTION 1

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 1 and 9 to 14, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together. All of the amendments are in the name of the Minister.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:

“(2) The Civil Liability Acts 1961 to 2017 and Part 3 may be cited together as the Civil Liability Acts 1961 to 2022.”.

This group of amendments amends the Civil Liability Act 1961 and relates to a new power for the Minister to make regulations in relation to periodic payment, indices and how it is to be applied. The substantive amendment is amendment No. 14, which provides for a replacement of the current section 51L of the 1961 Act. As Deputies will be aware, section 51L of the Civil Liability Act 1961, as inserted by the Civil Liability (Amendment) Act 2017, deals with the issue of the indexation of periodic payment orders, otherwise known as PPOs. The section provides for the annual adjustment of a payment under a PPO in line with the prevailing rate under the harmonised index of consumer prices, HICP. In addition, the section provides for a review of the application of the index after a five-year period to determine its suitability for use in PPOs. If, following the review, an alternative index is considered to be more suitable for the purpose of the PPOs, the Minister may, by regulation and with the consent of the Minister for Finance, specify an alternative index for use in adjusting payments under a PPO. This section also provides for reviews of the suitability of the relevant index at five-year intervals.

In November 2019, at a directions hearing, the High Court found that there was overwhelming evidence that a PPO linked to the HICP would result in under-compensation. The expert evidence presented to the court indicated that the annual amount needed to be linked to a wage-based index to ensure full compensation for future care needs. The court indicated that the HICP should no longer be used in such cases. The effect of the High Court decision was that PPOs are not being pursued despite general agreement among all parties that a PPO is often the best solution for plaintiffs and defendants in such cases. In order to address the effect of the High Court decision, I have decided that it is necessary to amend existing legislation to delete the reference to the HICP. I am also taking the opportunity to substitute an alternative and more flexible mechanism for determining the PPO indexation rate.

Amendment No. 14 gives effect to this policy decision. The amendment provides that the existing section 51L will be replaced by a new section, which essentially provides that the indexation rate for PPOs will be set by regulations made by the Minister for Justice, with the consent of the Minister for Finance. Subsection 1 sets out the general rule that a periodic payment order will be adjusted on an annual basis by reference to an index specified under the section and this index will be termed "a periodic payments index". Subsection 2 provides that an indexation rate shall be set out in regulations by the Minister for Justice for the consent of the Minister for Finance. Subsection 3 specifies in detail the issues that the Minister for Justice must consider. Subsection 4 provides for a review of the index and the general rule that the review must be carried out within five years of the making of the regulations setting the index rate.

However, it is my view that we need flexibility in the determination of the index. We have seen rapid increases in inflation in the past year. It will be necessary to ensure that a periodic payment index is capable of being reviewed in the event of further significant changes in economic circumstances.

Subsection 5 provides for the carrying out of subsequent reviews of the periodic payments index. Subsection 6 is a standard provision relating to the laying off regulations before the Houses of the Oireachtas. Subsection 7 identifies the scope of the new index which will apply to the annual adjustment to be made to the PPOs after commencement of the section.

I take the view that in order to ensure the best outcome for those who have been catastrophically injured, we should put in place a specific index dealing solely with PPOs. However, this will take some time and a great deal of development work by the Central Statistics Office. In that circumstance, I do not believe that it is in anyone's interest to leave the situation as it currently stands. It is my intention, therefore, to set an interim rate for use in PPOs. This rate will include elements covering general inflation and crucially, given the High Court decision, wage inflation. To assist me in determining the appropriate rate, I have established a working group to advise me on the most appropriate rate in the current circumstances.

Amendments Nos. 1 and 9 to 13, inclusive, are consequential amendments arising from the replacement of section 52L of the 1961 Act. Amendments Nos. 1 and 9 are technical amendments, while amendment No. 10 provides that the periodic payments index has the meaning assigned to it in section 51L. Amendments Nos. 11 to 13, inclusive, replace existing terminology in legislation with a reference to a periodic payments index.

Deputy Martin Kenny

I agree with the Minister of State on what is being proposed. Section 14 is the important one here. It deals with people in very difficult circumstances who have very serious injuries and need to continue to return to court to get their annual payment determined if it needs to be adjusted due to inflation. We should do anything we can to ease that both for the unfortunate individuals but also for the courts system because it is unnecessary to have that continue. We have no problem supporting this group of amendments.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 1, as amended, agreed to.

Section 2 agreed to.

NEW SECTIONS

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 2 to 6, inclusive, 8 and 71 are related and may be discussed together. Some of the amendments are consequential on each other so we will see how it goes.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1956

3. Section 2 of the Act of 1956 is amended by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘citizenship ceremony’ means a ceremony held—

(a) before a judge, or a retired judge, of the District Court, Circuit Court, Court of Appeal, High Court or Supreme Court or such other person as may be designated for that purpose by the Minister, and

(b) at a place and in a form approved by the Minister,

at which an applicant makes the declaration and gives the undertaking in accordance with section 15(1)(e), section 15A(1)(h) or section 15B(1)(d), as the case may be;”.”.

I am introducing amendments to 1956 Act to reduce from five years to three years the number of years' residence required for someone born in this State to become eligible for citizenship by naturalisation. This will allow children who are currently on a pathway to Irish citizenship to obtain that status at an earlier stage. It has been a cause of concern for some people that children born in Ireland to non-Irish parents do not have an entitlement to Irish citizenship from birth. The Government believes that providing a shorter pathway to citizenship is the right thing to do for these children. The amendment also provides a clear and specific procedure that will apply where a citizenship application is made for a child.

I am also introducing a new section to be inserted in the 1956 Act to make further and clear provision for the continuous residence condition for naturalisation. This matter was the subject of judgments by the High Court and the Court of Appeal in 2019, in the case of Jones v. the Minister for Justice and Equality. I am also introducing an amendment to section 7 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956.

The purpose of amendment No. 2 is to insert a definition of "citizenship ceremony" into the definitions section of the 1956 Act so that the definition will apply to the entire Act, including the new provisions to be introduced by the Bill. The existing definition in section 50 of the Act will be deleted.

Amendment No. 3 seeks to remove an anomaly that has been identified in the provisions of section 7 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 relating to the entitlement to Irish citizenship of grandchildren of Irish citizen officials posted abroad in the public service. This specific issue, which has been brought to the attention of my Department, relates to the entitlement to Irish citizenship in cases where children were born outside Ireland to Irish citizens who were working abroad in the public service and subsequent generations are also born outside Ireland. The anomaly that has been identified is that under section 7, as it currently stands, grandchildren of Irish-born Irish citizen officials posted abroad in the Irish public service are in a less favourable situation than grandchildren of foreign-born Irish citizen officials posted abroad in respect of automatic entitlement to Irish citizenship by descent if born outside Ireland in the requirement for registration in the foreign birth register maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Amendment No. 4 provides for amendments to section 15 of the 1956 Act which provides the conditions for issue of a certification of naturalisation.

Amendment No. 6 is the main amendment in this group. The purpose of this new section 15B is to reduce the residence requirements for naturalisation for children born in the State to three years from the current five years and to improve the clarity of the procedure for applications for certificates of naturalisation for minors. Section 15(1) of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956, which has been amended on several occasions since its enactment, provides that as one of the conditions for naturalisation, the applicant must have had one year's continuous residence in the State immediately before the date of the application and four years' residence during the eight years preceding that.

The effect of the proposed new section 15B will be to change the residence requirement for minors born in the State. The current four-year residence requirement will change to two years. The requirement for one year's continuous residence in the State immediately before the date of application continues to apply. The amendments, in effect, will replace a five-year residency requirement for minors with a three-year residency requirement.

The new section 15B also makes specific provision for the conditions of naturalisation that will apply to minors. The application of the good character condition to minors was the subject of the 2019 High Court judgment where the court held that it is the character of the minor that must be considered and not that of the parent or a guardian of the minor who makes the application for naturalisation on the minor's behalf. The new section 15B will clearly address the issues arising from that judgment.

For consistency with the provision of the Children Act 2001 relating to criminal responsibility of children, the new section proposes that the good character condition will only apply to a minor under the age of 14 in the rare cases where the minor has been charged with or convicted of a most serious homicide or sexual offence. Minors under the age of 14 will not be required to make a declaration of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State or to undertake to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values. This is in line with current practice. It will be possible for the requirement or the good character condition to be waived in respect of a minor aged 14 or over if it is considered appropriate to do so having regard to the particular circumstances of the minor concerned.

The new section restates the existing requirement that an application for naturalisation in respect of a minor is to be made on behalf of the minor by his or her parent or guardian or by a person who is in loco parentis to him or her. In consultation with the Office of the Attorney General, my officials continue to examine the possibility of enabling Tusla to apply for naturalisation on behalf of a child who is in care under the Child Care Act 1991. It is hoped this matter can be addressed on Report Stage.

The purpose of the new section 15C is to make further provision relating to the continuous residence conditions for naturalisation set out in sections 15 and 15A of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. It has been established practice and policy to permit applicants for naturalisation to spend some time away from Ireland in any one year without it affecting their application, including in the year immediately preceding the date of application for naturalisation. The continuous residence condition of naturalisation was the subject of a High Court and Court of Appeal judgments in 2019 in the case of Jones v. the Minister for Justice and Equality. I believe that legislation is necessary to put this matter on a clear statutory footing.

The new section 15C provides that absences totalling a standard 70 days, as well as up to 30 additional days necessitated in certain defined exceptional circumstances, will not impact on an applicant's compliance with the continuous statutory residence requirement. For minors, the intention is that the specified exceptional circumstances could only apply to a minor applicant in his or her own right, for example, if he or she had to go abroad for medical treatment or for educational reasons. Specific provision is made for cases where a minor applicant is absent from the State due to circumstances applying in respect of his or her parent or guardian. While it is not possible to pre-empt every eventuality that may arise, it is considered that these provisions are reasonable and balanced and afford flexibility to applicants for naturalisation.

The definition of family is broad and includes spouses and civil partners, cohabitants, children, siblings, parents, step-parents, grandparents, children, aunts and uncles. The new section 15D is consequential on the new sections 15B and 15C. The new section 15E contains transitional provisions to ensure where an application for naturalisation is made before commencement of this Act but has not been determined, the applicant may benefit from its provisions.

Amendment No. 71 provides for amendments to the Long Title of the Bill to reflect these amendments.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 7 of Act of 1956

4. Section 7 of the Act of 1956 is amended—

(a) in subsection (3A), by the substitution of “in” for “on”, and

(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (3A):

“(3B) A person born outside the island of Ireland, other than a person to whom subsection (3)(b) applies, who derives citizenship through a parent who—

(a) was born in the island of Ireland, and

(b) at the time of the person’s birth was abroad in the public service, shall be deemed to have been born in the island of Ireland for the purposes of this section.

(3C) Subsection (3B) shall apply to a person born before or after the coming into operation of section 4 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 15 of Act of 1956

5. Section 15 of the Act of 1956 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) is of full age;”,

and

(ii) in paragraph (e)(ii), by the substitution of “undertaken, in the prescribed manner,” for “undertaken”,

(b) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “subsection (1) and paragraphs (a) to (d) of section 15B(1)” for “subsection (1)”, and

(c) by the deletion of subsections (3) and (4).”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 15A of Act of 1956

6. Section 15A(1) of the Act of 1956 is amended, in paragraph (h)(ii), by the substitution of “undertaken, in the prescribed manner,” for “undertaken”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“Naturalisation of minors born in State and other matters

7. The Act of 1956 is amended by the insertion of the following sections after section 15A:

“Naturalisation of minors born in State

15B. (1) Upon receipt of an application under this section for a certificate of naturalisation in respect of a minor, the Minister may, in his or her absolute discretion, grant the application if satisfied that the minor—

(a) was born in the State,

(b) subject to subsection (2), is of good character,

(c) has had a period of one year’s continuous residence in the State immediately before the date of the application and, during the eight years immediately preceding that period, has had a total residence in the State amounting to two years, and

(d) subject to subsection (3), has, before a judge of the District Court in open court, in a citizenship ceremony or in such manner as the Minister, for special reasons allows—

(i) made a declaration, in the prescribed manner, of fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State, and

(ii) undertaken, in the prescribed manner, to faithfully observe the laws of the State and to respect its democratic values.

(2) Where a minor is under 14 years of age on the date of his or her application under this section for a certificate of naturalisation, the condition at paragraph (b) of subsection (1) shall apply to him or her only where he or she—

(a) is charged with, and is awaiting trial for, or

(b) is or has been convicted of,

murder, manslaughter, rape, rape under section 4 of the Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 or aggravated sexual assault within the meaning of section 3 of that Act.

(3) The condition at paragraph (d) of subsection (1) shall not apply to a minor who is under 14 years of age on the date of the application for a certificate of naturalisation.

(4) The Minister may, in his or her absolute discretion, waive the conditions at paragraph (b) or (d), or both, of subsection (1) in respect of a minor who is 14 years of age or over on the date of the application for a certificate of naturalisation, if the Minister considers it appropriate to do so having regard to the particular circumstances of the minor concerned.

(5) An application under this section in respect of a minor shall be made on behalf of the minor by his or her parent or guardian, or by a person who is in loco parentis to him or her.

Calculation of continuous residence for purposes of sections 15, 15A and 15B

15C. (1) When calculating a period of one year’s continuous residence in the State for the purposes of section 15 or 15B, the periods specified in subsection (3) during which—

(a) an applicant for a certificate of naturalisation under section 15, or

(b) a minor (in this section referred to as a ‘minor applicant’) in respect of whom an application for a certificate of naturalisation is made under section 15B,

was not present in the State shall be reckoned as a period of residence in the State.

(2) When calculating a period of one year’s continuous residence in the island of Ireland for the purposes of section 15A, the periods specified in subsection (3) during which an applicant for a certificate of naturalisation under that section was not present in the island of Ireland shall, subject to subsection (4), be reckoned as a period of residence in the island of Ireland.

(3) The following periods are specified for the purposes of subsections (1) and (2):

(a) a period not exceeding, or periods the aggregate of which do not exceed, 70 days, and

(b) an additional period not exceeding or such additional periods the aggregate of which do not exceed, 30 days, where the Minister is satisfied that the person’s not being present in the State or in the island of Ireland, as the case may be, during such additional period or periods was necessitated by—

(i) in the case of a minor applicant, exceptional circumstances relating to the minor applicant, or the person who made the application on his or her behalf, or both, and

(ii) in any other case, exceptional circumstances relating to the person.

(4) Where section 15A(4) applies to an applicant for a certificate of naturalisation, the periods specified in subsection (3) shall be in addition to any period of residence outside the island of Ireland referred to in section 15A(4).

(5) In this section—

‘day’ does not include part of a day;

‘exceptional circumstances’, in relation to a person not being in the State or the island of Ireland, means one or more of the following:

(a) the family or personal circumstances of the person;

(b) the health requirements of the person or of a family member of the person;

(c) requirements arising out of, or in the course of the employment, trade or profession of the person;

(d) requirements in pursuance of a course of study or a professional qualification of the person;

(e) any voluntary service by the person for humanitarian purposes;

(f) such other circumstances resulting in the person’s not being present in the State or in the island of Ireland, as the case may be, as the Minister considers to be outside the control of the person;

‘family member’, in relation to a person, means—

(a) the spouse, civil partner or cohabitant of the person,

(b) a child, son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the person,

(c) a parent, step-parent, mother-in-law or father-in-law of the person,

(d) a brother, sister, step-brother, step-sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, half-brother or half-sister of the person,

(e) a grandparent or grandchild of the person, or

(f) an aunt, uncle, nephew or niece of the person.

Saver for certificates of naturalisation

15D. A certificate of naturalisation granted under this Act before the coming into operation of sections 5, 6 and 7 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022 shall be valid so long as the certificate remains unrevoked.

Transitional provisions relating to applications for certificates of naturalisation

15E. (1) Where, before the date on which this subsection comes into operation, an application for a certificate of naturalisation has been made—

(a) under section 15 in respect of a person who is of full age, or

(b) under section 15A in respect of a non-national spouse or civil partner of an Irish citizen,

and, by that date, the application has not been determined under section 15 or section 15A, as the case may be, the application shall be deemed to have been made under section 15 (as amended by section 5 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022) or 15A (as amended by section 6 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022), as the case may be, and this Act shall apply accordingly.

(2) Where, before the date on which this subsection comes into operation, an application for a certificate of naturalisation has been made under section 15 on behalf of a minor and, by that date, the application has not been determined, the application shall be deemed to have been made on behalf of that minor under section 15B (inserted by section 7 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022) and this Act shall apply accordingly.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Chairman

Amendment No. 7 has been ruled out of order.

Amendment No. 7 not moved.

Chairman

Does Deputy Ó Ríordáin want to speak to amendment No. 8?

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 6, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following:

“Fees payable on declaration

3. The Act of 1956 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 30:

“Fees payable on declaration

30. (1) Subject to subsection (2), whenever any person is by this Act required or empowered to make a declaration for the purposes of this Act, regulations made under this Act may require that such person shall pay, on the making of such declaration, such fee as may be prescribed.

(2) Regulations to which subsection (1) applies shall not require the payment of a fee exceeding the maximum fee chargeable pursuant to regulations made under the Diplomatic and Consular Officers (Provision of Services) Act 1993 for the issue of a passport to a person aged 18 years or over.”.”.

I do not wish to speak to the amendment at length. I would be interested to hear the Minister of State's take on it.

Deputy James Browne

Amendment No. 8 proposes to replace section 30 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. That section provides that, whenever any person is required or empowered by the Act to make a declaration for the purposes of Act, regulations made under the Act may require that such a person shall pay, on the making of such declarations, such fees as prescribed. No regulations have had to be made under section 30 to prescribe fees for the purpose of that section to date. It is not clear to me, therefore, what the intention of this amendment is.

The fees to be paid by an applicant for a certificate of naturalisation are governed by the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Regulations 2011, SI 569 of 2011, which were made in exercise of the ministerial powers conferred by section 3 of the 1956 Act. The application fee stipulated at €175 is payable on application for a certificate of naturalisation, and a certification fee is payable on the issue of certification of naturalisation. The standard certification fee is set at €950, with a reduced fee of €200 applying in the case of an application made on behalf of a minor or, in certain cases, when the application is made by a widow, widower or surviving civil partner of an Irish citizen. In the case of recognised refugees and stateless persons, there is no certification fee.

The granting of Irish citizenship through naturalisation is a privilege and an honour that confers certain rights and entitlements, not only within the State but also at a European Union level. It is important the appropriate procedures are in place to preserve the integrity of the process. The standard fees payable by an applicant are designed to affect the effort and cost involved in processing applications for a certificate of naturalisation, which, given the benefits involved, is quite a detailed process. All of the fees payable under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 are kept under ongoing review by my Department. For those reasons, I do not propose to accept amendment No. 8.

Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin

I will withdraw with a view to resubmitting. However, it is certainly accepted that the cost involved is quite prohibitive for quite a number of people who are applying. However, on the basis of the Minister of State's response, I will withdraw for resubmission on Report Stage.

Deputy Martin Kenny

I agree with Deputy Ó Ríordáin. It is an issue that has come up, particularly for people who have been living in this State for a long time and have been paying taxes in the State. When they go looking for citizenship, the quite large amount of money they have to outlay for it is something that they find difficult. I encourage the Minister of State and his staff to look especially at those who have been long-term residents and taxpayers in the State for more than perhaps five or ten years or whatever so that there could be some reduction in fee in respect of them. It might be one way of alleviating this.

Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.

Section 3 agreed to.

NEW SECTIONS

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“PART 3

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL LIABILITY ACT 1961

Definition ( Part 3 )

4. In this Part, “Act of 1961” means the Civil Liability Act 1961.”

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 10:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 51H of Act of 1961

5. Section 51H of the Act of 1961 is amended by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘periodic payments index’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 51L(1);”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 51I of Act of 1961

6. Section 51I(6) of the Act of 1961 is amended—

(a) in paragraph (g), by the substitution of “periodic payments index” for “Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices as published by the Central Statistics Office or such other index as may be specified by the Minister under section 51L,”, and

(b) in paragraph (h)(iv), by the substitution of “periodic payments index” for “Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices as published by the Central Statistics Office or such other index as may be specified by the Minister under section 51L,”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 51J of Act of 1961

7. Section 51J(3) of the Act of 1961 is amended, in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “periodic payments index” for “Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices as published by the Central Statistics Office or such other index as may be specified by the Minister under section 51L”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 13:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 51K of Act of 1961

8. Section 51K(3) of the Act of 1961 is amended, in paragraph (c), by the substitution of “periodic payments index” for “Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices as published by the Central Statistics Office or such other index as may be specified by the Minister under section 51L”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 14:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Indexation of periodic payments

9. The Act of 1961 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 51L:

“51L. (1) A periodic payments order shall provide for the amount of a payment under the order to be adjusted annually by reference to an index specified in regulations made under subsection (2) (in this Part referred to as a ‘periodic payments index’).

(2) The Minister shall, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, make regulations specifying an index for the purposes of this section and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, regulations under this section may make provision for the following matters:

(a) the specification of different indices for different goods and services in respect of which a periodic payments order may be made;

(b) a fixed percentage increase for the purposes of providing that the amount of a payment under a periodic payments order reflects the rate of inflation, including wage inflation, in the State;

(c) such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations.

(3) The Minister shall, in making regulations under subsection (2), have regard to—

(a) the relevance of the goods and services on which an index is based to the loss or expenditure, including cost of care and medical expenses, for which plaintiffs who are the subject of periodic payments orders are compensated,

(b) the body calculating the index,

(c) whether or not the index is accessible at the same time or times each year, and

(d) the reliability of the index over time.

(4) The Minister shall, not more than 5 years after the coming into operation of this section, carry out a review (in this section referred to as an ‘initial review’) of the application of the periodic payments index in order to determine the suitability of that index for the purposes of the annual adjustment of the amount of payments provided for under periodic payments orders.

(5) The Minister shall, not more than 5 years after the initial review or where he or she considers it appropriate to do so, carry out a review of the application of the periodic payments index for the purpose referred to in subsection (4).

(6) Every regulation under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

(7) The periodic payments index shall apply to an annual adjustment of the amount of a payment to be made under a periodic payments order where the annual adjustment is made on or after the date of the coming into operation of Part 3 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 15 to 27, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together. I do not think we have discussed those yet.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“PART 4

AMENDMENT OF JURIES ACT 1976

Definition ( Part 4 )

10. In this Part, “Act of 1976” means the Juries Act 1976.”.

This group of amendments inserts a new Part 4 in the Bill which relates to the Juries Act 1976. While there are a number of amendments involved, the central feature is a streamlining of the summoning of jurors. Currently, each county register must summon jurors for his or her own jury district. These amendments will enable jurors to be summoned for all jury districts by one centralised office.

Deputy Martin Kenny

I am satisfied. It is about making the system better, improving it and, it is hoped, making it work better for many people who get that dreaded letter of jury duty.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1976

11. Section 2(1) of the Act of 1976 is amended by the insertion of the following definitions:

“ ‘court office’ has the same meaning as it has in section 13 of the Courts and Court Officers Act 2009;

‘designated court office’ means the court office standing designated pursuant to section 4A;

‘relevant member of staff’ means a member of the staff of the Courts Service for the time being assigned to the designated court office;”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 17:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Designated court office

12. The Act of 1976 is amended by the insertion, in Part 1, of the following section after section 4:

“4A. (1) The Courts Service may designate a court office as the designated court office for the purposes of this Act.

(2) The Courts Service may, at any time after designating a court office under subsection (1), revoke that designation.

(3) There shall be employed in a designated court office such and so many members of the staff of the Courts Service as the Courts Service shall from time to time determine.

(4) The Courts Service shall, as soon as may be after it designates a court office under this section or revokes such a designation, publish notice of that fact in Iris Oifigiúil, but failure to so publish shall not affect the validity of the designation or revocation of the court office concerned.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 18:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 9 of Act of 1976

13. Section 9 of the Act of 1976 is amended—

(a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of “who has been summoned” for “whom he has summoned”, and

(b) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “who has been summoned” for “whom he has summoned”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 19:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 10 of Act of 1976

14. The Act of 1976 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 10:

“10. For the purpose of enabling a relevant member of staff authorised in that behalf by the Chief Executive Officer of the Courts Service to empanel and summon jurors, each county council, city council and city and county council, as registration authority (within the meaning of section 6 of the Electoral Act 1992), shall as soon as practicable after the publication of each register of Dáil electors for the county, city or city and county deliver to the designated court office such number of copies of the register as the designated court office may require.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 20:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 11 of Act of 1976

15. The Act of 1976 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 11:

“11. A relevant member of staff duly authorised in that behalf by the Chief Executive Officer of the Courts Service, using a procedure of random or other non-discriminatory selection, shall draw up a panel of jurors for one or more courts within each jury district from the register or registers relating to the jury district concerned delivered to the designated court office under section 10 (omitting persons whom he or she knows or believes not to be qualified as jurors).”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 21:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 12 of Act of 1976

16. Section 12 of the Act of 1976 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) A relevant member of staff authorised in that behalf by the Chief Executive Officer of the Courts Service shall cause a summons in writing and in both the Irish and English languages, in such form as the Minister may by regulations prescribe, to be served on every person who has been selected as a juror pursuant to section 11 requiring the person—

(a) to attend as a juror at the court in question or other place specified in the summons for the reception of jurors on the day and at the time specified in the summons, and

(b) to thereafter attend at that court or place, as the case may be, or such other court or place as the court may direct, at such times as are directed by—

(i) the court, or

(ii) a relevant member of staff, where the member of staff is authorised to do so by the court.”,

and

(b) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “the county registrar for the jury district in which the court in question is located” for “the county registrar”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 22:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 13 of Act of 1976

17. Section 13(3) of the Act of 1976 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) where the summons was issued prior to the coming into operation of section 17 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022—

(i) a certificate by the county registrar or an officer acting on his or her behalf that the registrar or officer posted a letter containing the summons addressed as provided in subsection (2) shall be evidence of the fact so certified, and

(ii) a certificate by the county registrar or an officer acting on his or her behalf or a member of the Garda Síochána that he or she personally delivered the summons to the juror on a specified date shall be evidence of the fact so certified,”,

and

(b) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (b):

“(b) where the summons was issued after the coming into operation of section 17 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022—

(i) a certificate by a relevant member of staff that the member of staff posted a letter containing the summons addressed as provided in subsection (2) shall be evidence of the fact so certified, and

(ii) a certificate by a relevant member of staff or a member of the Garda Síochána that he or she personally delivered the summons to the juror on a specified date shall be evidence of the fact so certified, and”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 23:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 14 of Act of 1976

18. Section 14(1) of the Act of 1976 is amended by the substitution of “a relevant member of staff of Courts Service duly authorised in that behalf by the Chief Executive of the Courts Service” for “the county registrar”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 24:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 16 of Act of 1976

19. Section 16(1) of the Act of 1976 is amended by the substitution of “the designated court office” for “the county registrar”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 25:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 22 of Act of 1976

20. Section 22(3) of the Act of 1976 is amended by the substitution of “the Courts Service” for “the county registrar or other officer acting as registrar to the court during the trial”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Repeal of section 27 of Act of 1976

21. Section 27 of the Act of 1976 is repealed.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 27:

In page 6, between lines 10 and 11, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 35 of Act of 1976

22. Section 35 of the Act of 1976 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1)—

“(1) If any person who has been duly summoned as a juror makes or causes or permits to be made on his behalf a false representation to—

(a) the county registrar or any person acting on his behalf,

(b) a relevant member of staff, or

(c) a judge,

with the intention of evading jury service, he or she shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €500.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Sections 4 to 11, inclusive, agreed to.

NEW SECTIONS

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 28 to 31, inclusive, and amendment No. 73 are related. There is a connection between them. It is a house cards. If one falls, they all do. We will take them one at a time.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 28:

In page 10, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

“PART 4

AMENDMENT OF OCCUPIERS’ LIABILITY ACT 1995

Definition ( Part 4 )

12. In this Part, “Act of 1995” means the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995.”.

This group of amendments relates to the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995 and the duty of care of occupiers. I am proposing to amend a number of sections of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995 in line with the Government policy objective of restricting the liability of occupiers. These proposals strike the right balance between ensuring businesses, community groups and organisers of events fulfil their duty of care responsibilities while also acknowledging the importance of personal responsibility of visitors, recreation users and trespassers. The proposed amendments build on a review paper prepared by my Department in February 2021 and subsequently published. The proposed amendments contain the four key elements, which I will now outline.

Amendment No. 28 is a technical amendment that provides the Act of 1995 means the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995. Amendments Nos. 29 and 30 contain the amendments to sections 3 and 4 of the 1995 Act and have the purpose of including in that Act a number of recent court decisions that rebalance the duty of care owed by occupiers due visitors and recreational users. The amendment to section 3 deals with a common duty of care owed by an occupier to a visitor. The amendment to section 4 deals in subsection (4) with a duty owed by an occupier towards a recreational user in respect of a structure provided for use primarily by recreational users. The duty owed to recreational users in respect of a structure is essentially the same as a duty owed to visitors under section 3. Accordingly, I am proposing an amendment on the same lines as the amendment proposed to section 3 in relation to the recent court decisions.

The amendment in section 4 seeks to clarify and to limit the circumstances in which a court can impose liability on the occupiers of a premises where persons entered onto the premises for the purpose of committing an offence. The amendment provides that it shall be an exceptional circumstance where a court may determine the occupier shall be liable for a breach of the duty not to act with reckless disregard for the person.

The purpose of amendment No. 31 is to insert a new section 5A in the 1995 Act providing for the circumstances in which the occupier may be relieved of liability where the risks are willingly accepted by a visitor or recreational user. Under this new section, it is not necessary for there to be a contract or evidence of other interaction. It is sufficient for the occupier to demonstrate by reference to the words or conduct of a visitor or recreational user that the risk has been willingly accepted. Amendment No. 33 is a consequential amendment to the Long Title. Effectively, through these amendments, we are rebalancing the duty of an occupier and restricting the liability of occupiers under the Occupiers' Liability Act 1995.

Deputy Martin Kenny

I understand where this is going and reform is needed. A common issue we come across in rural areas is a trespasser on somebody's land using it for recreational use. We are talking about walkers, hillwalkers and people walking their dogs and the danger they may experience or cause to other people who are there, including the owner of the property. I would like more detail regarding how this change will impact on that.

Insurance is the big issue here. We need to ensure any changes we make will streamline things and make them easier and clearer, because that is one of the problems. There is great confusion about who is liable. The Minister of State mentioned recreational buildings and facilities. I am thinking of facilities used for children playing. We need to find the correct balance that will make insurance more affordable for those running those businesses and the people who hire out other facilities, for example, bouncy castles, to people's homes. There is a major problem in respect of that. Will the Minister of State enlighten us a bit more on that? It is something we can examine in more depth on Report Stage.

Chairman

I echo Deputy Kenny's remarks. I am interested in the area myself. Deputy Kenny makes a good case - indeed, the Minister of State has been proactive in respect of it - in terms of whether the proposed amendments encompass supermarkets and places of retail. Is this the thinking behind the amendments in terms of rebalancing liability or the presumption of liability in respect of slips, falls and those types of issues that can lead to litigation?

Deputy James Browne

One issue that sometimes arises with insurance is that the law is considered to be somewhat complex in this area, so we are attempting to rebalance the current law in order that the occupiers face a decreased risk of liability with regard to those coming onto their property in whatever circumstances they may be. We have sought to do that by lessening the liability but also by bringing clarity to the legislation following a number of court cases on the matter. We are seeking to do this through rebalancing the duty of care owed by occupiers to visitors and recreational users.

We are talking here mostly about farmland and rural land where people may be going onto the land. It may be a visitor, recreational user or trespasser, and those different categories remain there but we have sought to clarify the type of liability and the circumstances where someone might face liability. What we have sought to do is reflect the common-sense view that the conduct of a high social utility should be assessed less onerously than the conduct of a low social utility. An example would be a recreational user going onto land where the farmer might have facilitated recreational users through a pathway or gateways. In this scenario, the farmer would not face increased liability as a result of facilitating recreational users.

We also aim to tighten the law around situations where people may be going onto a premises with the intention of committing an offence. We sought to limit the circumstances in which a court can impose liability in those circumstances. The amendment provides that it shall be an exceptional circumstance where a court may determine that the occupier shall be liable for a breach of duty not to act with reckless disregard for the person in those circumstances. Obviously, it is up to the courts how they interpret and apply the law, but we are strongly of the view that what we have done here is sufficient to protect the occupier of the property while at the same time, ensuring there is no unfair risk to those coming onto the property depending on the different category under which they come onto the land.

Regarding supermarkets, based on my own experience as a barrister, most people would take a personal injury action not to do with the natural state of the land but more to do with slips and falls. While the Occupiers' Liability Act may sometimes be referenced in a court case, people tend to succeed in those cases under negligence principles.

Deputy Martin Kenny

The Minister of State mentioned rural areas where people pass through owners' land. In some cases, they are not there for recreation. They come back or send people back later on who carry out crimes such as robberies. A lot of people, particularly in the farming community, are very concerned about that and want reassurance that they have the right to be able to ask somebody what they are doing there, who they are, what their name is, why they are on the owner's property, and for that to stand up. I heard of a case a number of years ago involving a mountainous area adjacent to a beauty spot. People continuously crossed this farmer's land, much of which was very rocky and dangerous. He challenged one couple with children. The couple got very abusive and left. He tried his best. He went to An Garda Síochána and tried to find out who they were and why they were on his land because he had seen them on his property several times but he was unable to find out who they were. While the countryside should be open for people to walk in and enjoy, it should not be abused, and in the case of the small minority who do abuse it, there needs to be some recourse to ensure landowners can come back at it in that respect.

Regarding slips and falls in supermarkets or similar premises, I take the point that they are retail outlets. Somebody is going in there to purchase something. They are open to the public and are not properties on which people trespass. The situation is entirely different when trespass is involved. It is an area we need to get to grips with and find solutions.

Chairman

The issue of supermarkets is a live one. I understand from the Minister of State's comments that this amendment probably concerns rural scenarios, but slips and falls in supermarkets constitute a real cost to business.

Deputy Kenny mentioned people going onto lands looking for trouble rather than a rural idyll. They might even be looking for a fall thinking there might be a windfall at the far side of that depending on how they fall. My understanding is this amendment tries to put paid to that.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 29:

In page 10, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 3 of Act of 1995

13. Section 3 of the Act of 1995 is amended—

(a) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), in determining the extent of the common duty of care of an occupier towards a visitor, and whether it has been complied with by the occupier, regard shall be had, as appropriate, to all of the circumstances and matters referred to in that subsection, which shall include but are not limited to the following:

(a) the probability of a danger existing on the premises;

(b) the probability of the occurrence of an injury to, or of damage suffered by, a visitor by reason of a danger existing on the premises;

(c) the probable severity of an injury to a visitor that might result from a danger existing on the premises;

(d) the practicability, and the cost, of precautions or preventative measures;

(e) where applicable, the social utility of the activity or conduct that gives rise to the risk of injury or damage referred to in paragraph (b).”,

and

(b) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “section and subject to section 5A” for “section”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 10, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 4 of Act of 1995

14. Section 4 of the Act of 1995 is amended—

(a) in subsection (2)—

(i) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “knew of, or was reckless as to whether,” for “knew or had reasonable grounds for believing that”,

(ii) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “knew of, or was reckless as to whether,” for “knew or had reasonable grounds for believing that”,

(iii) in paragraph (c), by the substitution of “knew of, or was reckless as to whether,” for “knew or had reasonable grounds for believing that”,

(iv) by the deletion of paragraph (d), and

(v) in paragraph (g), by the substitution of “person, including whether or not he or she entered onto the premises as a trespasser, and” for “person, and”,

(b) in subsection (3)(a), by the substitution of “in exceptional circumstances, having regard to matters such as the nature of the offence, the extent of the recklessness on the part of the occupier, or the fact that the person was not a trespasser” for “in the interests of justice”,

(c) in subsection (4), by the substitution of “shall, subject to section 5A, owe” for “shall owe”, and

(d) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4):

“(5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4), in determining under that subsection whether or not an occupier has complied with the duty to take reasonable care to maintain a structure in a safe condition, regard shall be had, as appropriate, to all of the circumstances of the case, which shall include but are not limited to the following:

(a) the probability of a danger existing on the premises;

(b) the probability of the occurrence of an injury to, or of damage suffered by, a recreational user by reason of a danger existing on the premises;

(c) the probable severity of an injury to a recreational user that might result from a danger existing on the premises;

(d) the practicability, and the cost, of precautions or preventative measures;

(e) where applicable, the social utility of the activity or conduct that gives rise to the risk of injury or damage referred to in paragraph (b).”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 31:

In page 10, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

“Insertion of new section 5A into Act of 1995

15. The Act of 1995 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 5:

“Voluntary assumption of risk

5A. (1) The common duty of care under section 3 shall not impose on an occupier any obligation to a visitor in respect of risks willingly accepted by the visitor where that visitor is capable of comprehending the nature and extent of those risks.

(2) An occupier shall not owe any duty pursuant to section 4(4) to a recreational user of the premises in respect of risks willingly accepted by the recreational user where the recreational user is capable of comprehending the nature and extent of those risks.

(3) A determination under subsection (1) or (2) that a visitor or recreational user has willingly accepted a risk may be based on the words or conduct of the visitor or recreational user without a requirement for evidence of communication or interaction with the occupier of the premises in question.

(4) Section 34(1)(b) of the Civil Liability Act 1961 shall not apply in relation to the making of a determination under subsection (1) or (2) that a visitor or recreational user has willingly accepted a risk.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 12 agreed to.

NEW SECTIONS

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 32 to 34, inclusive, are related and may be discussed together.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 32:

In page 10, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 17 of Act of 2004

13. Section 17(2) of the Act of 2004 is amended by the substitution of “Subject to subsection (6A), the” for “The”.”.

These amendments relate to pre-action offers to settle clinical negligence claims. The term "offer to settle" is defined as an offer made by a party to a clinical negligence action to settle the claim to which the action relates in accordance with the pre-action protocol.

The new section 17A will, when brought into operation, replace the current section 17A which was inserted in the 2004 Act by the Legal Service Regulation Act 2015.

The overall effect of the amendment is to allow the pre-action protocol to be developed to address the particular nature of settlements in respect of clinical negligence cases. Preparatory work for the introduction of a pre-action protocol for clinical negligence actions is ongoing in the Department and the Office of the Attorney General. In effect, this amendment allows the pre-action protocols to be developed to address the particular nature of settlements in relation to clinical negligent cases which have been giving difficulty to date.

Chairman

That seems sensible.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 33:

In page 10, between lines 21 and 22, to insert the following:

“Pre-action offers to settle clinical negligence claims

14. The Act of 2004 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 17:

“17A.(1) Where an offer to settle is made, before the bringing of a clinical negligence action, in respect of a claim relating to a catastrophic injury

(within the meaning of Part IVB of the Act of 1961)—

(a) the offer to settle shall specify the proportion of the amount of the offer to settle that is attributable to—

(i) the future medical treatment of the plaintiff,

(ii) the future care of the plaintiff,

(iii) the provision of assistive technology or other aids and appliances associated with the medical treatment and care of the plaintiff, and

(iv) the future loss of earnings of the plaintiff,

and

(b) a copy of the offer to settle shall be lodged in court by, or on behalf of, the party by which it was made.

(2) The terms of an offer to settle shall not be communicated to the judge in the trial of a clinical negligence action until after he or she has delivered judgment in the action.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the court shall, when considering the making of an order as to the payment of the costs in a clinical negligence action, have regard to—

(a) the terms of an offer to settle, and

(b) the reasonableness of the conduct of the party by whom the offer was made in making the offer.

(4) Where a court has made a periodic payments order (within the meaning of Part IVB of the Act of 1961) in a clinical negligence action, the court shall, when considering the making of an order as to

the payment of the costs in the action, have regard to—

(a) the terms of any offer to settle, other than those terms which relate to the matters referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iv) of paragraph

(a) of subsection (1), and

(b) the reasonableness of the conduct of the parties to the action concerned in making any offers to settle.

(5) In determining liability for the part of the costs of a clinical negligence action relating to the matters referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iv) of paragraph (a) of subsection (1), the court shall have regard to—

(a) any offers not expressed to be without prejudice or in terms having like effect, and

(b) any offers made without prejudice save as to the issue of costs which were made by or on behalf of a party to the action after the commencement of the trial of the action, to effect a settlement of that action.

(6) This section is in addition to and not in substitution for any rule of court providing for the payment into court of a sum of money in satisfaction of a cause of action or the making of an offer of tender of payment to the other party or parties to an action.

(7) In this section—

‘clinical negligence action’ has the same meaning as it has in Part 2A;

‘offer to settle’ means an offer made by any party to a clinical negligence action to settle the claim to which the action relates in accordance with the pre-action protocol within the meaning of Part

2A.”.”

Amendment agreed to.

Sections 13 to 18, inclusive, agreed to.

NEW SECTION

Deputy James Browne: I move amendment No. 34:

In page 14, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following:

“Repeal of section 220(3) of Act of 2015

19. Section 220(3) of the Act of 2015 is repealed.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Sections 19 to 22, inclusive, agreed to.

Chairman

Amendment No. 35 is in the name of Deputy Ó Ríordáin but the member is not present.

Amendment No. 35 not moved.

Section 23 agreed to.

NEW SECTIONS

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 36, 37 and 75 are related and may be discussed together.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 36:

In page 15, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:

“PART 7

AMENDMENT OF DATA PROTECTION ACT 2018

Definition (Part 7)

24. In this Part, “Act of 2018” means the Data Protection Act 2018.”.

These particular amendments relate to the Data Protection Act 2018 and amend section 117 of that Act to confer jurisdiction to hear data protection actions in the District Court as well as, as it currently stands, in the Circuit Court and the High Court. Effectively, it allows actions to be taken in the District Court which can currently be taken in the Circuit Court and the High Court. It does not take away from the Circuit Court or the High Court and should reduce associated costs for data subjects and those providing defences to claims as well. Effectively, the aim is to improve access to justice and reduce costs by opening the jurisdiction of the District Court to hear data protection actions.

Chairman

The courts will be busy with the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB, changes as well. We need more judges.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 37:

In page 15, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 117 of Act of 2018

25. Section 117 of the Act of 2018 is amended—

(a) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) The District Court shall, subject to subsections 5A and 6A, and the Circuit Court shall, subject to subsections (5) and (6), concurrently with the High Court, have jurisdiction to hear and determine data protection actions.”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5):

“(5A) The compensation recoverable in a data protection action in the District Court shall not exceed the amount standing prescribed, for the time being by law, as the limit of that court’s jurisdiction in tort.”,

and

(c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (6):

“(6A) The jurisdiction conferred on the District Court by this section may be exercised by the judge of any district in which—

(a) the controller or processor against whom the data protection action is taken has an establishment, or

(b) the data subject has his or her habitual residence.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 24 agreed to.

NEW SECTION

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 38:

In page 15, between lines 17 and 18, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 50 of Act of 2019

25. Section 50(4) of the Act of 2019 is amended by the substitution of “a member of the Law Library” for “a member of the General Council of the Bar of Ireland”.”.

In its current form, section 50(4) of the Judicial Council Act 2019 provides that a complaint concerning the conduct of a judge as alleged to constitute judicial misconduct may be made on behalf of a barrister who is a member of the General Council of the Bar of Ireland but duly authorised officer of the General Council of the Bar of Ireland. The General Council of the Bar comprises officers appointed as accredited representatives of the Law Library and not the ordinary members of the Law Library. Amendment No. 38 clarifies that a complaint can be made on behalf of an ordinary member and it is an essential correction.

Amendment agreed to.

Sections 25 and 26 agreed to.

NEW SECTIONS

Chairman

Amendment Nos. 39 to 43, inclusive, are grouped for discussion purposes.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 39:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“PART 8

AMENDMENT OF CIVIL LAW AND CRIMINAL LAW (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) ACT 2020

Definition (Part 8)

27. In this Part, “Act of 2020” means the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020.”.

These amendments clarify that certain applications, notably those made under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 fall under Part 3 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020. Part 3 governs civil proceedings while Part 4 governs criminal and certain others proceedings such as extradition. Proceeds of crime applications are civil in nature but the drafting of the Part 3, as it stands, raises some possible doubts as to which part they fall under. The intention is that these will be treated as civil for the purposes of the 2020 Act as they would be for other purposes. Addressing this potential ambiguity ensures videolink applications are available and other civil measures in Part 3 apply to these applications.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 40:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 10 of Act of 2020

28. The Act of 2020 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 10:

“Definitions (Part 3)

10. In this Part—

‘civil proceedings’ includes any cause, action, suit, matter or application, other than criminal proceedings or relevant proceedings, in or to any court;

‘criminal proceedings’ and ‘relevant proceedings’ have the same meanings as they have in Part 4.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 41:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 14 of Act of 2020

29. Section 14(3) of the Act of 2020 is amended—

(a) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “criminal proceedings or relevant proceedings” for “criminal proceedings”, and

(b) in paragraph (c)(iii), by the substitution of “civil proceedings, criminal proceedings or relevant proceedings” for “civil or criminal proceedings”.”

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 42:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 22 of Act of 2020

30. Section 22 of the Act of 2020 is amended by—

(a) the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “criminal proceedings”:

“ ‘criminal proceedings’ means proceedings against a person for an offence and includes any appeal proceedings related to the offence;”,

and

(b) in the definition of “relevant proceedings”, by the substitution of “and includes any appeal proceedings related to such proceedings” for “and includes any appeal proceedings or subsequent proceedings”.”

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 43:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 23 of Act of 2020

31. Section 23(2)(e) of the Act of 2020 is amended by the deletion of “or any subsequent

proceedings”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Chairman

Amendment Nos. 44 to 46, inclusive, will be taken together.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 44:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 30 of Act of 2020

32. The Act of 2020 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 30:

“30. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the rules (howsoever described) of the body, the validity of a meeting of the members of an unincorporated body, or of a vote taken, decision made or other act done by such members at a meeting, shall not be affected by virtue only of the fact that the meeting concerned was held in accordance with subsection (2) and not held in person.

(2) A meeting referred to in subsection (1) is held in accordance with this subsection where the members participating in the meeting are not all in the one place, but each member is able, directly or by means of electronic communications technology, to speak to, and to be heard by,each of the other members.

(3) In this section, ‘electronic communications technology’, in relation to a meeting referred to in subsection (1), means technology that enables real time transmission and real time two-way audio-visual or audio communication.”.”.

Amendment No. 44 amends section 30 of the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020. It provides for unincorporated bodies such as golf clubs and voluntary committees to conduct their meetings remotely if they so wish, notwithstanding any internal rules of the body recurring in person meetings. A similar provision was included in the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020, however, this is linked to the pandemic and has expired. This particular provision is no longer linked to the pandemic. It is introduced to make that rule that was quite effective during the pandemic a now permanent amendment to the legislation.

Chairman

I can see it as being very practical, proactive and a welcome rule.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 44:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 30 of Act of 2020

32. The Act of 2020 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 30:

“30. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the rules (howsoever described) of the body, the validity of a meeting of the members of an unincorporated body, or of a vote taken, decision made or other act done by such members at a meeting, shall not be affected by virtue only of the fact that the meeting concerned was held in accordance with subsection (2) and not held in person.

(2) A meeting referred to in subsection (1) is held in accordance with this subsection where the members participating in the meeting are not all in the one place, but each member is able, directly or by means of electronic communications technology, to speak to, and to be heard by,each of the other members.

(3) In this section, ‘electronic communications technology’, in relation to a meeting referred to in subsection (1), means technology that enables real time transmission and real time two-way audio-visual or audio communication.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 45:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 31 of Act of 2020

33. Section 31 of the Act of 2020 is amended—

(a) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “hearing or in person” for “hearing”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (5):

“(5A) A person who, in relation to a relevant hearing—

(a) with the intention of frustrating the participation by a person in the relevant hearing, interferes with or obstructs the electronic communications technology employed in the relevant hearing, or

(b) makes, without the permission of the designated body that holds the relevant hearing, any recording of the relevant hearing,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or both.

(5B) Proceedings for an offence—

(a) under subsection (5A), or

(b) committed, whether under subsection (5A) or otherwise, by a person in connection with his or her participation by remote hearing in the relevant hearing, may be taken, and the offence may for all incidental purposes be treated as having been committed, in any place in the State.”,

and

(c) in subsection (6), by the insertion of the following definition:

“ ‘relevant hearing’ means a hearing that, by virtue of the application to it of subsection (1), is held by remote hearing;”.”

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 46:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 32 of Act of 2020

34. Section 32 of the Act of 2020 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection

after subsection (5):

“(5A) This section is without prejudice to any other enactment or rule of law

concerning—

(a) the execution of a document in counterpart,

(b) the treatment, on such execution, of documents executed in

counterpart,

(c) the steps required for a document executed in counterpart to

become effective, or

(d) the delivery of a document executed in counterpart.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Chairman

Amendment Nos. 47 to 55, inclusive, and 67 and 77 are related.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 47:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“PART 9

COURTS AND COURT OFFICERS (CENTRALISED COURT OFFICES AND ELECTRONIC REGISTERS)

Interpretation (Part 9)

35. (1) In this Part—

“centralised court office” means a court office designated under section 36;

“court office” has the same meaning as it has in section 13 of the Courts and Court

Officers Act 2009;

“enactment” has the same meaning as it has in the Interpretation Act 2005;

“specified business”, in relation to a centralised court office, means business specified

by the Courts Service under subparagraph (i) or (ii) of subsection (2)(a) or subsection (3)(a)(i) of section 36 as business that may or shall be transacted in

that office.

(2) A reference in this Part to the variation of the specified business of a centralised court

office means—

(a) the specification of further business as such specified business, or

(b) the removal of the specification of such business.”.

This group of amendments is designed to facilitate the streaming and centralisation of court processes. Amendment No. 47 provides for interpretation provisions. Amendment No. 48 enables the Courts Service to designate any court office as a centralised office for the purpose of carrying out specified court business exclusively or in addition to a local office. Provision for varying or revoking the designation is also provided for and the Courts Service will be obliged to publish a notice in Iris Oifigiúil as soon as may be after designation, variation or revocation under this section. Amendment No. 49 imposes an obligation on the Courts Service to consult with the Chief Justice or the presidents of the Court of Appeal, High Court, Circuit Court or District Court as appropriate where it is proposed to specify a centralised court office to discharge business of a court office within the Chief Justice's or the relevant presidents' jurisdiction. Amendment No. 50 provides for where a court officer or an office of the Courts Service has been designated a centralised court office, it would have the power to carry out the business of the court office of which it has been designated.

Amendments Nos. 51 and 52 converse functions of court office staff. Amendment No. 53 provides from transitional provisions, while amendment No. 54 provides immunity from suit against the Courts Service and its staff in respect of anything done or said in good faith in the course or performance of functions. Amendment No. 55 enables the chief executive of the Courts Service to direct that in a register maintained by the court office by under or in accordance with any enactment. Amendment No. 67 provides for a number of consequential amendments to the Courts Services Act 1998 in order to reference designated court offices. Amendment No. 77 makes a consequential amendment to the Long Title.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 48:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Centralised court offices

36. (1) Notwithstanding any other enactment, the Courts Service may designate any court office as a centralised court office.

(2) The Courts Service shall, in designating a centralised court office under subsection

(1), specify—

(a) the business of each court office that—

(i) may be transacted either in the centralised court office or that court office, or

(ii) shall be transacted in the centralised court office only,

and

(b) the date from which such business may or shall, as the case may be, be transacted in the centralised court office concerned.

(3) The Courts Service, at any time after designating a centralised court office under

subsection (1)—

(a) may—

(i) vary the business that may or shall be transacted in the centralised court office, or

(ii) revoke the designation,

and

(b) where it so varies the business or revokes the designation, shall specify the date on which the variation or revocation shall take effect.

(4) Where a date is specified by the Courts Service in accordance with subsection (2)(b) or (3)(b) as a date from which a specified business shall or may be transacted in a

centralised court office, such business shall or may, as the case may be, from that date be so transacted.

(5) Where a date is specified by the Courts Service in accordance with subsection (3)(b) as a date from which—

(a) a specified business shall no longer be transacted in a centralised court office, or

(b) the designation of a centralised court office is revoked,such specified business or all specified business of the centralised court office, as the case may, shall from that date be transacted in the court office in which it would have been transacted prior to the specification of such business.

(6) The Courts Service may, in specifying a date for the purposes of subsection (2)(b) or (3)(b) in respect of a specified business, specify different dates for different categories of the specified business.

(7) The Courts Service shall, as soon as may be after—

(a) a centralised court office is designated and business specified in relation thereto,

(b) the specified business of a centralised court office is varied, or

(c) the designation of a centralised court office is revoked,

publish notice of the designation, the business so specified or varied, or the revocation, as the case may be, in Iris Oifigiúil, but failure to so publish shall not

affect the validity of the designation, specification, variation or revocation concerned.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 49:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Consultations

37. (1) The Courts Service shall consult with the Chief Justice prior to—

(a) designating an office attached to the Supreme Court as a centralised court office under section 36(1),

(b) specifying as specified business under section 36(2) business that would otherwise be transacted in an office attached to the Supreme Court,

(c) varying a specified business under section 36(3)(a)(i) that would otherwise be transacted in an office attached to the Supreme Court, or

(d) revoking the designation of an office attached to the Supreme Court as a centralised court office under section 36(3)(a)(ii).

(2) The Courts Service shall consult with the President of the Court of Appeal prior to—

(a) designating an office attached to the Court of Appeal as a centralised court office under section 36(1),

(b) specifying as specified business under section 36(2) business that would otherwise be transacted in an office attached to the Court of Appeal,

(c) varying a specified business under section 36(3)(a)(i) that would otherwise be transacted in an office attached to the Court of Appeal, or

(d) revoking the designation of an office attached to the Court of Appeal as a centralised court office under section 36(3)(a)(ii).

(3) The Courts Service shall consult with the President of the High Court prior to—

(a) designating an office attached to the High Court as a centralised court office

under section 36(1),

(b) specifying as specified business under section 36(2) business that would otherwise be transacted in an office attached to the High Court,

(c) varying a specified business under section 36(3)(a)(i) that would otherwise be transacted in an office attached to the High Court, or

(d) revoking the designation of an office attached to the High Court as a centralised court office under section 36(3)(a)(ii).

(4) The Courts Service shall consult with the President of the Circuit Court prior to—

(a) designating an office of, or attached to, the Circuit Court as a centralised court office under section 36(1),

(b) specifying as specified business under section 36(2) business that would otherwise be transacted in an office of, or attached to, the Circuit Court,

(c) varying a specified business under section 36(3)(a)(i) that would otherwise be transacted in an office of, or attached to, the Circuit Court, or

(d) revoking the designation of an office of, or attached to, the Circuit Court as a centralised court office under section 36(3)(a)(ii).

(5) The Courts Service shall consult with the President of the District Court prior to—

(a) designating an office of, or attached to, the District Court as a centralised court office under section 36(1),

(b) specifying as specified business under section 36(2) business that would otherwise be transacted in an office of, or attached to, the District Court,

(c) varying a specified business under section 36(3)(a)(i) that would otherwise be transacted in an office of, or attached to, the District Court, or

(d) revoking the designation of an office of, or attached to, the District Court as a centralised court office under section 36(3)(a)(ii).”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 50:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Centralised court office - deemed powers and functions

38. Where, pursuant to section 36, specified business may or shall be transacted in a centralised court office, for the purposes of such a transaction in the centralised court office, the following shall apply:

(a) that centralised court office is deemed to be the court office in which the business would, in the absence of its specification as specified business, require to be

transacted;

(b) the members of staff of the Courts Service employed in that centralised court office under section 39 are deemed to be officers attached to that court office;

(c) any reference in an enactment to that court office or to an officer or member of staff of that court office shall, save where the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include that centralised court office or an officer or member of staff of that centralised court office, as the case may be.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 51:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Staff of centralised court office

39. There shall be employed in a centralised court office such and so many members of the staff of the Courts Service as the Courts Service shall from time to time determine.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 52:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Functions of staff

40. The Courts Service may, notwithstanding any other provision of any enactment, appoint any member of staff of the Courts Service employed in a centralised court office under section 39 as a district court clerk for such one or more district court areas in respect of which business to be transacted by a district court clerk assigned to such district court area has been specified for transaction in the centralised court office under subsection (2) or (3)(a)(i) of section 36.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 53:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Continuity of administration of justice not to be affected

41. (1) The continuity of the administration of justice shall not be interrupted by-

(a) the designation of a centralised court office under section 36(1),

(b) the specification of business as specified business under section 36(2),

(c) the variation of the business that may or shall be transacted in a centralised court office under section 36(3)(a)(i), or

(d) the revocation of the designation of a centralised court office under section 36(3) (a)(ii).

(2) Where the transaction of business has been commenced in a court office and, prior to its conclusion, the business is specified as business under subsection (2) or (3) of section 36 which shall be transacted in a centralised court office only, the transaction of the business concerned shall be continued in the centralised court office from the date specified in accordance with subsection (2)(b) or (3)(b) of section 36.

(3) Where the transaction of specified business has been commenced in a centralised court office and, prior to its conclusion, the designation of the centralised court office is revoked in accordance with section 36(3)(a)(ii) or the business of a centralised court office is varied by the removal of that business in accordance with section 36(3)(a)(i), the transaction of the business concerned shall be continued from the date specified in accordance with section 36(3)(b), in the court office in which it would have been transacted prior to its specification.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 54:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Immunity from suit

42. Civil or criminal proceedings shall not lie in any court against the Courts Service, a member of staff of a court office or any other member of staff of the Courts Service in respect of anything said or done in good faith by the Courts Service or such a member of staff in the course of the performance or purported performance of a function of the Courts Service or such a member of staff.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 55:

In page 16, between lines 30 and 31, to insert the following:

“Electronic Registers

43. (1) Subject to subsection (2) and notwithstanding any other enactment, the Chief Executive Officer of the Courts Service may, where he or she considers it appropriate, having regard to the benefit of information being made available to the public in an electronic form and the capacity for a register to be maintained in such form, issue a direction in writing that the register shall be maintained in electronic form.

(2) Where the Chief Executive Officer of the Courts Service issues a direction under subsection (1), he or she shall specify in the direction—

(a) the date from which the register to which it relates shall be maintained in electronic form, and

(b) whether that register shall, from that date, be so maintained in respect of—

(i) all matters registered in that register after that date, or

(ii) all matters registered in that register from such earlier date as that Chief Executive may specify.

(3) A direction under subsection (1) shall be published on the website of the Courts Service, but failure to so publish shall not affect the validity of the direction concerned.

(4) In this section, “register” means a register, howsoever called, maintained by a court office by, under, or in accordance with any enactment, and includes—

(a) the register of judgments maintained for the purposes of the Judgements (Ireland) Act 1844,

(b) the Register of Licenses within the meaning of section 16 of the Licensing Act (Ireland) 1874,

(c) the register of instruments maintained under section 10 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1996, and (d) the register of lis pendens affecting land maintained under section 121 of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 56 to 58, inclusive, and 78 are related and may be discussed together.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No 56:

In page 16, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“Definitions (Part 8)

27. In this Part—

“Act of 1926” means the Court Officers Act 1926;

“Act of 1936” means the Courts of Justice Act 1936;

“Act of 1961” means the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961.”

Amendment No. 57 replaces section 27(4) of the Court Officers Act 1926 and seeks to broaden the eligibility requirements for appointment as the deputy master of the High Court. Members of staff of the Courts Service employed for a period of nine years or more in certain court offices and those who hold "such other qualifications as the Courts Service, with the consent of the President of the High Court, determines to be appropriate" will now be eligible for appointment.

Amendment No 58 amends section 35 of the Courts of Justice Act 1936 to provide a statutory basis for the removal of the county registrar by Government and outlines circumstances in which a county registrar shall cease to hold office.

Amendments Nos. 56 and 78 make consequential amendments to definitions and the Long Title.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No 57:

In page 16, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 27 of Act of 1926

28. Section 27 of the Act of 1926 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (4):

“(4) No person shall be appointed under this section to be a Deputy Master of the High Court unless at the time of his or her appointment he or she—

(a) possesses the qualifications required by paragraph 17(a) of the Eighth Schedule to the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 for appointment as Master of the High Court,

(b) is a member of the staff of the Courts Service who is serving or has served in an office or offices established under Part I of this Act and who—

(i) is—

(I) a qualified barrister within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, or

(II) a person who has been admitted as a solicitor and whose name is on the roll of solicitors (which shall be construed in accordance with section 9 of the Solicitors Act 1954),

or

(ii) at any time prior to his or her appointment as Deputy Master has been employed for a period of not less than nine years, or for periods together totalling not less than nine years, in an office or offices established under Part I of this Act,

or

(c) is a member of the staff of the Courts Service who holds such other qualification or qualifications as the Courts Service, with the consent of the President of the High Court, determines to be appropriate for such appointment.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No 58:

In page 16, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 35 of Act of 1936

29. Section 35 of the Act of 1936 is amended by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (6):

“(7) A County Registrar ceases to hold office if he or she is—

(a) convicted on indictment of an offence,

(b) convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, or

(c) sentenced to a term of imprisonment by a court of competent jurisdiction.

(8) The Government may, in accordance with this section, remove a County Registrar from office if—

(a) in the opinion of the Government, he or she has become incapable, through ill-health or otherwise, of performing the functions of the office,

(b) in the opinion of the Government, he or she has failed without reasonable cause to perform the functions of the office for a continuous period of at least 3 months, or

(c) he or she has engaged in serious misconduct.

(9) Where the Government propose to remove a County Registrar from office under subsection (8), they shall give notice in writing to the County Registrar concerned of the proposal.

(10) A notice under subsection (9) shall include a statement—

(a) of the reasons for the proposed removal,

(b) that the County Registrar may, within a period of 30 working days from the date of the giving of the notice, or such longer period as the Government may, having regard to the requirements of natural justice, specify in the notice, make representations to the Government in such form and manner as may be specified by the Government, and

(c) that after the period referred to in paragraph (b) or the period specified in the notice, as the case may be, the Government shall decide whether to remove the County Registrar from office.

(11) In considering whether to remove a County Registrar from office under subsection (8), the Government shall take into account—

(a) any representations made by the County Registrar concerned under subsection (10)(b) within the period referred to in that paragraph or the period specified in the notice, as the case may be, and

(b) any other matter the Government consider relevant for the purpose of their decision.

(12) Where, after giving notice under subsection (9), the Government decide not to remove the County Registrar from office, the Government shall notify him or her in writing of the decision.

(13) Where, after giving notice under subsection (9), the Government decide to remove a County Registrar from office, the Government shall notify the County Registrar in writing of the decision, the reasons for it and the date from which it shall take effect (which shall be a date not earlier than the date of the notification under this paragraph).”.”

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 59:

In page 16, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 37 of Act of 1936

30. Section 37 of the Act of 1936 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(3) The judge hearing an appeal under this section may, if he or she so thinks proper on the application of any party to such appeal, refer any question of law arising in such appeal to the Court of Appeal by way of case stated for the determination of the Court of Appeal and may adjourn the pronouncement of his or her judgment or order on such appeal pending the determination of such case stated and may pronounce his or her said judgment or order at any time after such determination.”.”.

Amendment No. 59 inserts a new subsection (3) into section 37 of the Courts of Justice Act 1936. The latter provides for appeals from the Circuit Court to the High Court. This amendment addresses an anomaly identified by the Supreme Court in Irish Life and Permanent plc v. Dunne, where there was no express provision to allow the High Court, when hearing appeals under section 37 where no oral evidence was given before the Circuit Court, to refer such appeal as a case stated. While the court interpreted the 1936 Act in order that a case stated could be referred under section 37, it would appear prudent to amend the Act to clarify the position.

Amendment agreed to.

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 60 and 61 are grouped. Does the Minister of State want to speak to them both?

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 60:

In page 16, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 65 of Act of 1936

31. Section 65 of the Act of 1936 is amended—

(a) in subsection (3), by the substitution of “subsection (2) and section 65A” for “subsection (2)”, and

(b) in subsection (4), by the substitution of “subsection (1), including those to which section 65A applies,” for “subsection (1)”.”.

The amendments relate to fees payable and unpaid fees under the 1961 Act and provide for a number of technical amendments to the Courts of Justice Act 1936. Most court fees are payable at the point of lodgment of court documents. The prospect of such fees remaining outstanding generally does not arise in such circumstances. However, certain court fees, in particular fees payable on foot of a taxation of costs are collectible after the event, and instances of non-payment have arisen. Amendment No. 61 enables the recovery of unpaid court fees as a civil debt by means of court proceedings.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 61:

In page 16, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following:

“Unpaid fees

32. The Act of 1936 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 65:

“65A. (1) Where an accountable person, being a person, whether acting on his or her own behalf, or on behalf of another person, who is obliged to discharge a fee prescribed by the Minister under section 65(1), has not paid or, as the case may be, not fully paid the fee concerned on the occasion upon which such fee is prescribed to be paid—

(a) the accountable person shall be liable, and where there is more than one such accountable person they shall be liable jointly and severally, for the payment of the fee unpaid or, as the case may be, the portion of the fee remaining unpaid, and

(b) the fee or, as the case may be, the portion of the fee remaining unpaid—

(i) shall be deemed to be a debt due by the accountable person to the Courts Service, and

(ii) shall be payable to the Courts Service and may (without prejudice to any other mode of recovery of the fee or portion of the fee remaining unpaid) be sued for and recovered as a simple contract debt by action, or other appropriate proceedings, at the suit of the Courts Service in any court of competent jurisdiction.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Sections 27 and 28 agreed to.

NEW SECTIONS

Chairman

Perhaps the Minister of State will talk us through amendments Nos. 62 to 66, inclusive.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 62:

In page 17, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 7A of Act of 1961

29. Section 7A of the Act of 1961 is amended by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (6):

“(6A) Notwithstanding the generality of subsections (5) and (6), but subject to subsection (6C), in civil proceedings before the Court of Appeal, an application or appeal specified in subsection (6B) may be heard and determined by—

(a) the President of the Court of Appeal sitting alone, or

(b) any other judge of the Court of Appeal sitting alone as may be nominated for that purpose by the President of the Court of Appeal.

(6B) The following applications and appeals are specified for the purposes of subsection (6A):

(a) an application to dismiss an appeal on the basis that the appeal is—

(i) an abuse of process,

(ii) frivolous or vexatious, or

(iii) without substance or foundation;

(b) an appeal against an order for costs;

(c) an appeal against an order made pursuant to the slip rule;

(d) an appeal against an order made in respect of matters connected with the case management of proceedings;

(e) an appeal against such class or classes of order of the High Court of an interlocutory nature as may be prescribed in the Rules of the Superior Courts.

(6C) Where—

(a) the President of the Court of Appeal, or

(b) the judge nominated under subsection (6A)(b), hears an application or an appeal in accordance with subsection (6A) and it appears to him or her that it is in the interests of justice that the application or the appeal be heard by a division of 3 judges, he or she shall refer the application or the appeal for hearing by such division.

(6D) In prescribing orders of an interlocutory nature for the purposes of subsection (6B)(e), the Superior Courts Rules Committee—

(a) shall have regard to the following:

(i) the interests of justice;

(ii) the need to ensure expeditious access to justice for all parties to proceedings;

(iii) the need for the expeditious disposal of proceedings in the High Court and, in particular, proceedings in respect of an appeal against an order of the High Court of an interlocutory nature;

(iv) the need to ensure the most effective and efficient use of the resources of the Court of Appeal, and

(b) may, for those purposes, prescribe any the following orders either generally, or in respect of particular categories of proceedings:

(i) an order for discovery, including further and better discovery;

(ii) an order refusing discovery, including further and better discovery;

(iii) an order requiring the delivery of replies to particulars;

(iv) an order refusing to direct the delivery of replies to particulars;

(v) an order requiring an answer to interrogatories;

(vi) an order refusing to direct an answer to interrogatories;

(vii) an order granting an application for an interlocutory injunction;

(viii) an order refusing to grant an application for an interlocutory injunction;

(ix) an order for security for costs;

(x) an order refusing to grant security for costs;

(xi) an order granting an application to amend pleadings;

(xi) an order refusing to grant an application to amend pleadings;

(xiii) such other order of an interlocutory nature as the Superior Court Rules Committee considers appropriate having regard to the matters referred to in paragraph (a).”.”.

Amendment No. 62 permits a single judge of the Court of Appeal to hear certain specified applications and appeals. This amendment is intended to improve efficiency and reduce costs associated with the Court of Appeal and to reduce the time that is taken up by appeal hearings where there is an abuse of process, the appeal is frivolous or vexatious, is without substance or foundation and which may have been entered for the sole purpose of delay and obstruction. In addition, the following can be referred to a single judge: an appeal against an order or costs; an appeal against an order made pursuant to the slip rule; an appeal against an order made in respect of matters connected with the case management of proceedings; and an appeal against order of the High Court of an interlocutory nature as may be prescribed in the Rules of the Superior Courts. Effectively, to date, three judges of the Court of Appeal have had to sit to hear these types of applications, which, in our view, is completely unnecessary. This amendment will allow for a single judge of the Court of Appeal to hear such applications.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 63:

In page 17, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 22 of Act of 1961

30. Section 22 of the Act of 1961 is amended by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection 15:

“(16) In the interests of the administration of justice and the determination of proceedings in a manner which is just, expeditious and likely to minimise the cost of those proceedings—

(a) the President of the Circuit Court, or

(b) any other judge of the Circuit Court as may be nominated for that purpose by the President of the Circuit Court, may, subject to any practice direction issued under subsection (17), make any order or give any direction he or she thinks appropriate in relation to the conduct of proceedings before the Circuit Court.

(17) The President of the Circuit Court may, in the interests of the administration of justice and the determination of proceedings in a manner which is just, expeditious and likely to minimise the cost of those proceedings, issue directions (in this section referred to as ‘practice directions’) in relation to the conduct of proceedings before the Circuit Court.

(18) A practice direction may relate to—

(a) civil or criminal proceedings, or both, or

(b) a class or classes of civil or criminal proceedings, or both,

and may make provision for such incidental, supplementary and consequential matters, including in respect of a failure to comply with any matter provided for in a direction, as appear to the President of the Circuit Court to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the direction.

(19) A practice direction shall be published in such manner as the President of the Circuit Court may direct.

(20) Subsections (16) to (19) are without prejudice to any powers of the Circuit Court in respect of proceedings before it.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 64:

In page 17, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 36 of Act of 1961

31. Section 36 of the Act of 1961 is amended by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (4):

“(5) In the interests of the administration of justice and the determination of proceedings in a manner which is just, expeditious and likely to minimise the cost of those proceedings—

(a) the President of the District Court, or

(b) any other judge of the District Court as may be nominated for that purpose by the President of the District Court,

may, subject to any practice direction issued under subsection (6), make any order or give any direction he or she thinks appropriate in relation to the conduct of proceedings before the District Court.

(6) The President of the District Court may, in the interests of the administration of justice and the determination of proceedings in a manner which is just, expeditious and likely to minimise the cost of those proceedings, issue directions (in this section referred to as ‘practice directions’) in relation to the conduct of proceedings before the District Court.

(7) A practice direction may relate to—

(a) civil or criminal proceedings, or both, or

(b) a class or classes of civil or criminal proceedings, or both,

and may make provision for such incidental, supplementary and consequential matters, including in respect of a failure to comply with any matter provided for in a direction, as appear to the President of the District Court to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the direction.

(8) A practice direction shall be published in such manner as the President of the District Court may direct.

(9) Subsections (5) to (8) are without prejudice to any powers of the District Court in respect of proceedings before it.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 65:

In page 17, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:

“Court may award costs without oral hearing

32. The Act of 1961 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 61:

“62. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a court in any proceedings before it may, in relation to its determination, or any part of its determination, of the liability (if any) of any party to costs, make one or more of the following directions:

(a) that the determination shall be made without an oral hearing;

(b) that an application or submission to the court relating to such determination shall be made in writing;

(c) that a ruling in relation to such liability shall be delivered in writing.

(2) A court shall not make a direction under subsection (1) where it considers that it is not in the interests of justice to do so.

(3) A direction under subsection (1) may be made at any time during the proceedings concerned or at their conclusion.

(4) Rules of court may, in relation to proceedings to which subsection (1) applies, make provision for the manner in which submissions in writing relating to liability for costs may be made by the parties to the proceedings.

(5) Subsection (1) is without prejudice to any power of the court under any enactment or rule of court.

(6) In this section, ‘court’ means the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the Circuit Court or the District Court.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 66:

In page 17, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following:

“Amendment of Eighth Schedule to Act of 1961

33. The Eighth Schedule to the Act of 1961 is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph 17:

“Qualification of Master of the High Court

17. No person shall be appointed to be Master of the High Court unless at the time of his or her appointment he or she—

(a) is a barrister or solicitor of not less than eight years’ standing who is then actually practising, or

(b) has—

(i) been appointed under section 27(1A) of the Court Officers Act 1926 to be a deputy to execute the office of the Master of the High Court or, as the case may be, to execute such office concurrently with the Master of the High Court, and

(ii) been appointed and acted as such deputy for a period or periods totalling not less than three months.”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 29 agreed to.

SECTION 30

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 67:

In page 17, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:

“(a) in section 6(2)—

(i) in paragraph (j), by the substitution of “designate court venues,” for “designate court venues, and”,

(ii) in paragraph (k), by the substitution of “Courts and Court Officers Act 2009,” for “Courts and Court Officers Act 2009.”, and

(iii) by the insertion of the following paragraphs after paragraph (k):

“(l) designate a court office as a centralised court office, specify or vary the business that may or shall be transacted in such a court office, or revoke the designation of such an office, under section 36 of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2022, and

(m) designate a court office as a designated court office under section 4A of the Juries Act 1976 for the purposes of that Act,”.”.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 30, as amended, agreed to.

Sections 31 and 32 agreed to.

NEW SECTION

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 68 and 79 will be taken together.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 68:

In page 18, between lines 22 and 23, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 36 of Succession Act 1965

33. Section 36 of the Succession Act 1965 is amended—

(a) in subsection (4), by the substitution of “until he has satisfied himself, on the basis of an examination of all notices of applications for grants made to the Probate Office and the district probate registries,” for “until he has received from that Office a certificate”, and

(b) by the deletion of subsections (5) and (7).”.

Amendment No. 68 relates to streamlining the probate process. Perhaps, like the Chairman, there have been a number of solicitors who have been hoping some amendments could be made to streamline the probate service. This amendment is one that will certainly help in such situations. Amendment No. 68 amends section 36 of the Succession Act 1965 to streamline the probate process by allowing a district probate registrar to certify that no other applications have been made in respect of the estate of the deceased person. This is currently done by the courts service personnel and the Dublin Probate Office. This amendment would allow district offices to process and issue the standard grants more efficiently, facilitating a short probate processing time. Amendment No. 79 is an associated amendment to the Long Title.

Amendment agreed to.

Sections 33 and 34 agreed to.

NEW SECTION

Chairman

Amendments No. 69 and 80 are grouped together.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 69:

In page 19, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following:

“Maintenance and champerty not to apply to dispute resolution proceedings

35. The Arbitration Act 2010 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 5:

“5A. (1) This section applies to dispute resolution proceedings.

(2) The offences and torts of maintenance and champerty do not apply to dispute resolution proceedings.

(3) A third-party funding contract that meets the criteria (if any) prescribed under subsection (4) shall not, insofar as it relates to dispute resolution proceedings, be treated as contrary to public policy or otherwise illegal or void.

(4) The Minister may, for the purposes of subsection (3), by regulation prescribe criteria, including criteria relating to transparency in relation to funders and recipients, for third-party funding contracts.

(5) In this section—

‘dispute resolution proceedings’ means:

(a) an international commercial arbitration;

(b) any proceedings arising out of an international commercial arbitration before a court of competent jurisdiction performing any of the functions provided for in the Model Law;

(c) any appeal from a decision of a court referred to in paragraph (b);

(d) any mediation or conciliation proceedings arising out of an international commercial arbitration, proceedings or an appeal referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c);

‘third-party funding contract’ means a contract or agreement between a party or potential party to dispute resolution proceedings and a third-party funder, for the funding of all or part of the costs of the proceedings in return for a share or other interest in the proceeds or potential proceeds of the dispute resolution proceedings to which the party or potential party may become entitled.”.”.

The purpose of amendment No 69 is to amend to the Arbitration Act 2010 by inserting a new section 5A to permit third-party funding in limited circumstances specifically relating to international commercial arbitration. It provides that offences and torts of maintenance and champerty do not apply to dispute resolution proceedings, which are defined as international commercial arbitration and any proceedings arising out of an international commercial arbitration, including any mediation or conciliation proceedings. The new section 5A also includes the power to make regulations prescribing criteria for third-party funding contracts. This amendment will have a positive effect on the international perception of the Irish legal framework by removing any doubts regarding the ability to enforce arbitration awards in the State. While the amendment provides for a limited liberalisation of third-party funding, next year my Department will commence a broader policy review on the Law Reform Commission position paper on the matter, which will be published in the coming months. Amendment No. 80 is the associated amendment to the Long Title.

Amendment agreed to.

Section 35 deleted.

NEW SECTION

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 70 and 81 are related. I invite the Minister of State to speak to them both.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 70:

In page 19, after line 36, to insert the following:

“Amendment of Schedule 1 to Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Act 2022

36. Schedule 1 to the Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Act 2022 is amended, in column (5) opposite mention of reference number 9, in the amendment of section 27B(15) of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, by the substitution of “The chief superintendent of the Garda Síochána division shall cause to be kept a register of all lottery permits” for “The chief superintendent of the Garda Síochána division shall cause to be kept a register of all gaming permits”.”.

This amendment corrects a typo in the Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Act 2022, and substitutes the reference to "lottery permits" with the phrase "gaming permits". Amendment No. 81 amends the Long Title to reflect the inclusion of the provision. The issue was caused by the change of Garda districts into divisions.

Amendment agreed to.

TITLE

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 71:

In page 5, lines 6 and 7, to delete all words from and including “An” in line 6 down to and including “1956;” in line 7 and substitute the following:

“An Act to make provision in relation to the grant of certificates of naturalisation and the authentication of certificates of nationality, and for those and other purposes to amend the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956; to amend the Civil Liability Act 1961 to enable the Minister for Justice to make regulations in relation to the specification of an index by reference to which the amount of a payment under a periodic payments order is to be adjusted annually; to make provision for the designation of a court office for the purpose of empanelling and summoning jurors, and for that purpose to amend the Juries Act 1976;”.

Amendment agreed to.

Amendment No. 72 not moved.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 73:

In page 5, line 9, after “1988;” to insert “to amend the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1995;”.

Amendment agreed to.

Chairman

Amendments Nos. 74 and 76 are related and can be discussed together.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 74:

In page 5, line 11, to delete “related purposes” and substitute “other purposes”.

These are technical amendments to the Long Title.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 75:

In page 5, line 13, after “2015;” to insert “to provide for the District Court to have jurisdiction, concurrently with the Circuit Court and the High Court, to hear and determine an action taken by a data subject in respect of his or her rights under the Data Protection Regulation and, for that purpose, to amend the Data Protection Act 2018;”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 76:

In page 5, line 15, to delete “another purpose” and substitute “other purposes”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 77:

In page 5, line 15, after “2019;” to insert “to make provision for the designation of centralised court offices, the specification of court office business to be transacted in such offices and related matters; to make provision for the maintenance of certain registers in electronic form;”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 78:

In page 5, line 19, after “amend” to insert “the Court Officers Act 1926, the Courts of Justice Act 1936, the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961,”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 79:

In page 5, line 21, after “1964,” to insert “the Succession Act 1965,”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 80:

In page 5, line 21, to delete “and” and substitute “, the Arbitration Act 2010,”.

Amendment agreed to.

Deputy James Browne

I move amendment No. 81:

In page 5, line 22, after “2020” to insert “and the Garda Síochána (Functions and Operational Areas) Act 2022”.

Amendment agreed to.

Title, as amended, agreed to.

Chairman

Pursuant to Standing Order 187(3), the clerk to the committee will report to the Dáil that the committee has amended the Title. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Bill reported with amendments.

Chairman

I thank the Minister and his officials and team. I thank Deputy Martin Kenny for his engagement throughout. Of course Deputy Ó Ríordáin was here for the earlier Stages as well. I thank all the members. Finally, I thank the clerk to the committee and his team.

The select committee will now adjourn until 3 p.m. next Tuesday, when we will meet to consider the Supplementary Estimates Votes.