Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 70:

In page 17, line 12, to delete “who is resident in the State”.

This amendment is about removing residence as a condition and to remove the words "who is resident in the State". We are looking for An Garda Síochána to allow for a foreign police service in whose jurisdiction an alleged crime occurred, and where somebody in Ireland has told them about the crime. I do not know why one would have the condition that the person must be resident in the State. It is not clear. The Minister does not speak of habitual residence, rather it is legal residence, which would exclude many people who are in Ireland for relatively lengthy periods. It is also not clear if it means residence as defined in tax legislation or is it somebody with a valid visa or something else. It would exclude people who are undocumented or people who are waiting for an asylum claim to be processed under section 12. They would not be able to go the Garda about something that happened them in their own country and enable the Garda to refer it onwards. I do not see why a person in Ireland must prove legal residency to have their rights vindicated as a victim. I do not believe it is necessary and it should be easy enough to remove it from the proposed legislation.