David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will certainly look at that. It raises other issues, however, with respect to freedom of the victim to come and go and so forth. On first contact, the victim gets all the information available with respect to support services, agencies and so on. There are plenty of talented and experienced people available to assist a victim.

We have to work on the best interests of the victim. If the accompanying person is not working in the best interests of the victim and the gardaí see that, they have to be free to ask the person in question to leave. It is then up to the victim to decide whether he or she wants to carry on or get somebody else to accompany them. They are free to do that and the Garda will give all the help and assistance required.

I am certain the Garda would follow up to assist and support a victim if the victim wants it. One cannot coerce a person to do something they do not want to do, however. There is a balance involved. A victim who comes forward is completely free to make his or her own arrangements. It is only when the view is taken that the accompanying person is not acting in the best interests of the victim, that he or she would be asked to leave. In rare instances, that could be a legal representative. Accordingly, we have to make provision for that.