I thank the Seanad for welcoming me to the Seanad this afternoon to debate the proposed amendments to the Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026. I appreciate the engagement that Senators have had with the Bill to date, as evidenced by the amendments which various Senators have put forward, and I look forward to constructive discussion on those amendments along with those I am moving on behalf of the Government.
Before we debate the proposed amendments, with the Cathaoirleach's permission, I wish to briefly signal a number of other amendments which are currently at an advanced stage of drafting in the Office of Parliamentary Counsel which I intend to bring forward on Report Stage. These include the insertion of a new Part into the Bill to provide an enabling basis for remote hearings and the use of electronic documents in criminal proceedings and international co-operation proceedings, and to make consequential amendments to the Criminal Evidence Act 1992, the Civil Law and Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020, and the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021.
They also include the insertion of a new Part into the Bill to extend the State’s passenger name record data regime to intra-EU flights to align the law in this area with a recent judgement of the CJEU and to provide for the designation of an independent authority to approve the disclosure of PNR data held by the Irish passenger information unit and to revoke the European Union (Passenger Name Record Data) Regulations 2018.
I will also introduce an amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1984 to provide a statutory basis for the admissibility as certificate evidence in criminal proceedings of the results of presumptive drug tests administered by members of the Garda and a consequential amendment to the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014.
I will introduce an amendment to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act to empower members of the Garda to require a person to remove a face covering in particular circumstances where the person is wearing a face covering to evade liability or identification for the purpose of having committed a criminal offence and an amendment of section 14 of the Bill which provides for commencement of the Bill to enable certain provisions to commence on enactment rather than by ministerial order.
As mentioned previously in the Dáil, I have been giving consideration to commencement. I intend to amend section 1(4) to enable further provisions in the Bill to come into operation on enactment rather than by order.
I will introduce an amendment to replace the current section 6, which amends section 67 of the Courts of Justice Act 1936, to address an issue with the provision whereby it does not take account of certain previous amendments to section 67 of the Act. I will also introduce an amendment to replace the current section 17, which amends the Criminal Evidence Act 1992, to provide that where a person is convicted of any indictable offence, character evidence for sentencing purposes must be given on oath or by affidavit. This is to address a number of drafting issues with the current provision.
I will introduce an amendment to remove section 44, which provides that more than one DNA profile may be generated in relation to missing persons, unknown persons and unknown deceased persons. I have been advised that section 44 is unnecessary because it is permissible to generate more than one profile in such cases without explicit provision being made. I will also introduce an amendment to section 69, which adds the Courts Service to schedule 5 to the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, to add the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, DPP, to the schedule, thereby making it a specified body for the purposes of sections 262 to 270, inclusive. I also propose to add An Garda Síochána, which at present is a specified body but only in relation to staff. I propose to remove that reference being restricted to staff.
There are a number of technical amendments to Part 15, which provides for the disregard scheme that we discussed previously, to address a procedural lacuna arising in the context of the provisions of sections 60 and 61, which relate to the revoking of a disregard.
