Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not need the full six minutes as my question is a very simple one. It concerns the word "risk". We know from the Citizens' Assembly what it is that we are asked to consider here. The assembly has a gradation of risk or "serious risk" to use its own term. There are various definitions of what does or does not constitute risk. In Dr. Sedgh's experience, is it possible or even desirable to try to grade risk in legislation? Is it simply a matter of "risk" as determined by medical professionals? Or can or should we consider including a definition of what does or does not constitute sufficient risk? We are being asked to consider the Citizens' Assembly's recommendations here and risk is listed as one of the grounds.

The assembly also listed sexual assault among its recommendations, so this too forms part of our deliberations here. Ms Hoctor mentioned that there are some countries which operate through possible prosecution certificates or indeed legal processes. That sounds quite shocking to me. Are these measures on the statute books of those countries without necessarily applying in everyday use? In other words, do these countries have other ways around the matter? Or is it actually the case that such certification has to be obtained? I would like to ask Ms Hoctor to talk us through the process of how a woman might go about obtaining this as it sound to me like a very tough thing to do. Without wishing to stray outside of Ms Hoctor's area of expertise, I wonder if she could talk to us briefly about the potential impact that having to obtain such certification might have on a woman who has been the victim of a sexual assault. Finally, what possible implications might that have on time? Legal processes can be long and drawn out - is this a quick process? What are the mechanics of it?