Calls for €75,000 cap on awards for defaming

A joint delegation of small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) leaders have called on the Government to introduce an immediate cap for payouts in serious defamation cases of €75,000.

Leaders from ISME and the Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association (CSNA) met with junior justice minister James Browne and called for an immediate cap on the scale of damages awarded.

The Supreme Court has now confirmed that the capping of damages is constitutional and that it is exclusively a matter for the Oireachtas, business leaders said.

Vincent Jennings, chief executive officer of CSNA, said instances where a shopkeeper asks a customer for a receipt or proof of payment or refusing to accept a particular payment type should never be considered “actionable”.

“CSNA welcomes the proposed amendments to the Defamation Act that will prevent frivolous and vexatious claims against our members.

“Unless serious harm has been suffered by a customer there should never be opportunities for chancers to enrich themselves,” he said.

The EU Parliament’s adoption of the Anti-SLAPP Directive – which protects journalists and media outlets from aggressive litigation – means that Ireland must introduce robust and meaningful protections for defendants, as well as significant penalties for offending plaintiffs, the small-business leaders said.

They want compensation for defendants to be equivalent to three times the damages sought by the plaintiff, or the maximum jurisdiction of the court in which the claim is brought – whichever is the greater.

This level of award is consistent with legislative provisions under the Protected Disclosures Act 2014.

Neil McDonnell, chief executive officer of ISME said: “Any reform to the Defamation Act without addressing legal costs will be almost meaningless.

“As we have previously advised the Department of Justice, the real power in defamation litigation is not the ability to exact damages from defendants, it is the ability to inflict large costs upon them, without any hope of recovery if the defendant wins.

“The Government must therefore introduce legislation giving effect to the minority report of the Review of the Administration of Civil Justice within the lifetime of the 33rd Dáil.