Ms Catriona Doherty:

The Children’s Rights Alliance unites over 100 organisations working together to make Ireland one of the best places in the world to be a child. The alliance welcomes the publication of the general scheme of the criminal justice (victims of crime) Bill 2015 and the opportunity to be consulted today. We commend the work of the Minister for Justice and Equality and her departmental officials in producing this important draft legislation.

The scheme of the Bill has many positives, including the presumption that all child victims need special protection measures, as well as the inclusion of a victim personal statement to be taken into account when sentencing the offender. The proposals it contains are particularly important in that they place the rights of victims on a statutory footing for the first time. We believe, however, that for the legislation to be effective, the heads must be amended to strengthen the protections for children to bring it in line with the rights afforded by the EU victims directive. Significantly, the Bill fails to address the requirement under Article 8 of the directive for the mandatory provision of confidential victim support services free of charge both before, during and, for an appropriate time, after criminal proceedings.

In applying the directive, children’s best interests must be of primary consideration in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. While the best interest principle is included in the preamble and in head 17, they are not sufficient to comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or Article 1.2 of the directive. It must be incorporated in its own right.

In 2006, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the State to ensure that victims of abuse and neglect have access to counselling and assistance with physical recovery and social reintegration. In that regard, the committee will examine Ireland again in January. Supports for child victims of abuse, neglect, murder and other crimes are often inadequate. For example, there is no access to free counselling in all parts of Ireland for child victims affected by murder. Yesterday, the only counselling service for child victims of sexual abuse in Ireland, the Children at Risk in Ireland centre, CARI, had a waiting list of 40 in Dublin and 50 in Limerick.

The startling reality is that this means that child victims of sexual abuse will have to wait between one year and 18 months for therapy and support and by this time next year some of those children will still be on that waiting list. For victims of sexual assault under 14 years, there is limited access to specialist services, with just one State service, located in Galway. Victims over 14 years can access specialist integrated sexual assault treatment units, however these are unavailable in most parts of Ireland.

It is in this context that it is of grave concern to the Children's Rights Alliance that the general scheme fails to transpose Article 8 of the directive, which provides that the victim shall have access to confidential victim support services. There is nothing discretionary in Article 8 as it states it "shall". This is a significant omission as the EU directive envisages that member states shall ensure that there is free access. This omission is incompatible with Article 39 of the UNCRC.

The committee should ensure that any support services put in place should include specific victim support services which should be provided for children and their parent or guardian to meet them to prepare for court, upon arrival at court and to wait with them during the trial to improve participation and recovery.

Turning to the voice of the child, overall head 9 gives practical realisation to Article 12 of the UNCRC and the inclusion of a victim personal statement which shall be taken into account when determining the sentence to be imposed on a person for an offence. However, the proposed legislation fails to take into account the needs of children making the statement which is directly linked to the failure to transpose Article 8 relating to victim support services. Children making the statement should have access to support services in circumstances where revisiting the crime could be traumatic for the child and may impact on his or her emotional recovery, and appropriate professional support may be required.

Turning to special protection measures, in all judicial proceedings children should be protected from harm, including intimidation and secondary victimisation. In that regard, head 16, which set outs special measures during a trial, is to be welcomed. Head 17 is also to be welcomed.