Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 3 October 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality
General Scheme of the Irish Prison Service Bill and of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Bill: Discussion
Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
I have a question on what was said about the legal advice before a matter goes to Garda investigation and I am not saying that this would happen. Is there a concern that at a later stage a defence team might construct a narrative that would suggest that that advice had tailored the manner or content of the complaint? We have seen a lot of development in, for example, the disclosure of medical notes and things like that, of which I am sure our guests will be aware. While I do not know whether this material is covered by legal advice privilege, is there a concern, however well minded the provision of providing that advice at an early stage might be - and I know Ms Counihan talked about it in the context of "here is how this is going to unfold" as opposed as to "here is what the narrative is" - that there is a danger that it transpires in a different way later on in the process?
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