Businesses appeal for change to defamation laws
The
retail
and
hospitality
sectors have urged Minister for Justice
Jim O'Callaghan
to tackle 'vexatious defamation litigation being entertained' in the courts, saying they do not feel legally protected.
'The civil law system is actively conspiring to extort money from them in vexatious, unmeritorious litigation,' a letter to the Minister from
Neil McDonnell
, chief executive of the
Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association
(Isme) said.
The correspondence, obtained under freedom-of-information legislation, followed a recent meeting between Mr McDonnell and Mr O'Callaghan during which current defamation reform was discussed.
The sector is specifically concerned about false claims against staff, including alleged shoplifting accusations.
READ MORE
Isme believes spurious defamation proceedings brought against small businesses are an issue comparable to fake personal injury claims, and often requiring less effort.
[
'They laugh at us': Dublin retailers voice fury at €10,000-plus payouts for defamation over shoplifting
Opens in new window
]
Isme has estimated the cost of defamation actions to small businesses to fall between €30 million and €50 million annually, based on data from a single security firm. It believes there are also many undocumented payouts.
As with other stakeholders, including the media, the business lobby hopes to affect change during the passage of current legislation that would improve its position in legal disputes.
Legal reform has long been called for and the programme for government committed to restoring the Defamation Bill and to 'make passing the legislation a priority'.
The association is seeking various changes, including the introduction of a 'harm test' and other gatekeeper mechanisms that would restrict or temper such claims. Citing official data, Isme noted that defamation cases in Ireland currently outnumber those of the UK which has a similar legal system.
'When Ireland has the same number of defamation cases as a jurisdiction with a population 12 times greater, there is an undeniable systemic problem,' the letter stated.
Mr McDonnell said the argument of a person's 'access to justice' was moot among those in hospitality and retail 'when those sectors identify both the criminal system as failing to protect them and the civil law system as actively conspiring to extort money from them in vexatious, unmeritorious litigation'.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr McDonnell said there were two types of theft in retail – actual theft and feigned theft where a person will attempt to look suspicious in order to attract an accusation.
'It's more attractive [than fraudulent personal injury] in many ways and the reason why is it's far faster,' Mr McDonnell said of the claims process.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Illegal immigration crackdown sees 'most people ever' detained at Dublin Airport
Immigration officials are now targeting foreign criminals trying to come and live in Ireland. They are taking a hard-line stance with asylum seekers who arrive here with no passports from Georgia and Albania - two countries now listed as safe states. They are also being given details on various criminals kicked out of the UK by the British authorities, who then try to get back into Ireland from Romania. A Government insider said: "We are now detaining more people than ever before at Dublin Airport. "Most who arrive here illegally are being returned on the next plane within 24 hours. "There was an unofficial ban on detaining women because it looked bad politically but not anymore." The Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan this week confirmed that 179 individuals had been detained in Irish jails for immigration-related reasons so far this year compared to 204 for the whole of 2024. Defending the figures he said: "It can be necessary to detain people in advance of a deportation order to prevent absconding. Alternatives to detention are widely used where they are deemed appropriate. "When a person does not apply with a deportation order they can be arrested and detained for up to 56 days for the purpose of ensuring their deportation from the state. "In the case of a person refused leave to land to enter the State, arrangements are made by the Garda National Immigration Bureau to return the person to their point of embarkation at the earliest opportunity which may take a number of days. Detention in such circumstances is only carried out as a last resort."
Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Irish Independent
Councillors demand meeting over Youghal Courthouse closure
The letter to Cork County Council from the private secretary of Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan said that on the second Friday of each month from June 1, cases from Youghal are being heard in Dungarvan in a sitting intended for child and family law cases. The letter went on to state that the judge assigned to the district has issued a direction transferring the District Court business currently listed at Youghal to Dungarvan Courthouse with effect from November 1 this year. The Courts Service is engaging and consulting with all relevant stakeholders, including An Garda Síochána, 'in relation to the impacts and any possible unintended consequences of these changes,' the letter added. The Councillors blasted the lack of engagement with them in the stakeholder consultation and outlined the detrimental effect that the decision will have on the East Cork town and the surrounding locality. 'The direct impact over the division of East Cork, where we could be losing staffing levels from Cobh, Midleton, Carrigtwohill, Killeagh and all the sub-villages to go to Youghal on days when An Garda Síochána will have to go to Dungarvan is not acceptable,' said Cllr Ann Marie Ahern. 'The Garda presence will be out of the town for numbers of hours if they have to travel to Dungarvan, which is in another county, which to me shouldn't be allowed at all. As well as that, you've family courts and you've people on the margins that won't be able to afford to attend courts financially,' said Cllr Mary Linehan Foley. Cllr Linehan Foley rejected the suggestion that the current court building, the Mall House, is draughty, which has been reported as one of the reasons behind moving the court sittings to Dungarvan. 'We have heaters, they can be used, and at the end of the day, we [East Cork Municipal District] used the courthouse during COVID ourselves and we were never cold, far from it, inside there.' She pointed out that the current building has been used as a courthouse for over twenty years. Cllr Michael Hegarty said the Youghal Courthouse district 'represents and covers a vast area. There are people on the margins who would need to use those facilities and expecting or requesting them to go to Dungarvan, it's not on. 'And as well as that, the Gardai are very disappointed and annoyed as well to be taken out of their normal jurisdiction. If it happens, you'll see an awful lot of cases being deferred, adjourned, and it will lead just to a major backlog in dealing with the court services.' Cork County Council is now going to send a letter to the Department of Justice calling for a meeting with the minister or a department official. 'I think it's actually very frustrating to get a response like this without any engagement with the public reps of the area. I'm very nervous that this is a fait accompli, that it's done and dusted at this stage. And that's why the letter we got back from the department is kind of brushing us aside. But we're not going to be brushed aside on this," said Councillor Linehan Foley. Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.
Irish Examiner
4 days ago
- Irish Examiner
GoCar to reduce number of vehicles available in Limerick due to 'antisocial behaviour'
GoCar, one of Ireland's leading vehicle-sharing services, has announced it will reduce the number of vehicles available in Limerick due to 'anti-social behaviour'. The car rental service released a statement after a string of incidents that have caused 'significant damage' to its vehicles. 'Unfortunately, months of persistent incidents of antisocial behaviour have caused constant significant damage to our vehicles and placed an unsustainable strain on our operations," the company said. "As a result, we've had to make the very difficult decision to temporarily reduce the number of GoCars available in Limerick. We know this will cause disruption to those that use our cars correctly, and for that, we're genuinely sorry. Please rest assured that this is not a decision we've taken lightly. 'We're working closely with local authorities and An Garda Síochána to address the issues and are doing everything we can to restore full service as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding and for being a valued part of the GoCar community.' Earlier this month, Limerick's metropolitan district unanimously agreed to write to justice minister Jim O'Callaghan, calling on him to brief the council on the future resourcing of policing in the city. The motion was brought forward by Labour's Pádraigh Reale, who said out of 120 gardaí who passed out from Templemore, 11 have been assigned to the southern region — with 'only four' being assigned to the Limerick division. The ongoing feud in the southside of the city was also brought up during the meeting. This comes as three men were hospitalised following incidents of violent disorder and criminal damage on June 22 on Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston. In recent months, several incidents have occurred on the southside of the city as a result of the ongoing feud. Read More Limerick residents alarmed over 'prevalence' of open drug use in city
