Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There seems to have been a slight amendment. Pretrial hearings are, in general, a good idea because they will make sense in sorting out a lot of issues so juries will not be hanging around, especially in long cases. There is a reference in the legislation to arraigning the accused person if it is felt to be appropriate. We feel that should be tightened up a little. An issue could arise over the chain of custody or there could be a technical issue in respect of which the accused should be able to make a guilty plea as early as possible and be given credit for that. Thus, a minor technical issue could be sorted out and the accused would not have to be arraigned beforehand. That was a concern I had about the section.