Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their submissions and presentations. Several points have come up during the meeting. Deputy Howlin made a very fair point about court structures, which applies more widely and not only in cases of sexual violence. It always struck me as strange that in Tralee Circuit Court where I used to practise, all the witnesses sat right in front of the accused or sometimes the co-accused. In many cases the closest person to them in the court was the accused person. I always thought they should be sitting on the other side of the court. That should certainly be looked at.

I agree with what Mr. Hayes said in response to Deputy Pringle's question about appeals taken by the DPP. In my experience the current DPP and her predecessors have always been quite choosy about the number and types of cases they take. It does not surprise me that the number of appeals is relatively small but the statistics will back that up.

Ms Carberry and Ms Murphy made very valid points about the cross-examination of witnesses. There is an idea out there that it is a free-for-all against witnesses, complainants and victims who are giving their evidence in court. It is certainly my experience that this is not the case and that there are protections for the victims in place which are not widely known. It is very dangerous for someone defending an accused person to go down that line because one risks being absolutely hammered if a guilty verdict is brought in. That is the practicality of it.

Cases of domestic violence are treated differently all the way along. Those in jail for drugs offences, domestic violence offences and sexual assault offences do not qualify for temporary release in the same way that they would if they had been convicted for other types of offences.

Coming from my background in criminal defence, I recognise it is a difficult one, balancing the rights of an accused person. I read some excellent suggestions made by One in Four and by RCNI. I agree with most of them. One suggestion proposed allowing any victim of sexual violence to have their evidence-in-chief prerecorded and stand as evidence in trial. I think that would be a step too far, balancing the rights of an accused person.

One of Senator McDowell's questions related to the attitude of the DPP in bringing cases forward for trial. He seemed to be asking whether more cases are brought forward for prosecution in sexual assault and rape cases than others. I am not so sure about that. In the past I have represented people who strenuously denied the accusations. They have their rights. Their families, partners and wives have been affected by that case hanging over them for five years. In a few instances, the cases were eventually dismissed. It is difficult to balance both of them, but some excellent suggestions have been made.

I have one question for RCNI about how the statistics are compiled by An Garda Síochána.

I read some but not all of an excellent report about rape and justice in Ireland that the RCNI prepared. Is it happy with the way statistics are compiled in this jurisdiction? There were some fascinating statistics in the presentation about the attitudes to accused persons of, for example, male-dominated as against female-dominated juries. Is the RCNI happy with the way the statistics are compiled? An interesting statistic that came out of its report was that African people were ten times more likely to be accused in cases like this. Did that also follow through with prosecutions? That is all I will say on the matter but I again thank all the witnesses for their presentations.