A legal law expert, Andrea Martin, told a NUJ conference in Dublin yesterday that the bill was "ill-thought through, poorly drafted and brings even greater uncertainty to this particular area of civil law in Ireland than already exists".

The Ennis-based solicitor said the privacy proposal was "premature in its introduction, and has been presented to government as a workable piece of legislation in the absence of any comprehensive consultation or debate on its provisions."

The NUJ has criticised Minister McDowell for not allowing adequate consultation on the bill's content, objectives and "potential chilling effects on the exercises of freedom of expression".

Secretary of the NUJ Seamus Dooley told the conference: "The achievements in the area of libel reform are negated by the publication of a privacy bill published without consultation.

"It's the result of an expert group that did not have time to engage with the public and which contain sweeping provisions which in our view would inhibit investigative journalism."