Dr. Susan Leahy:

If you think about the invasion of privacy inherent in these notes, there is very similar personal information contained in, for example, your social work notes or in a medical report about you. Even in a school record there could be information that is intensely private to you. That gives rise to two key issues that are very similar to counselling notes. First, the invasion of privacy but something that maybe is not being included in the debate as much as it should be here in Ireland is the discriminatory use to which those records are put at trial. For example, you also have a situation where at present counselling notes, if they are disclosed, may also nod to other records which are not covered by the regime but can then be used much more freely. We know that, though attitudes have improved, there is still myths in society about who is a genuine victim, who is a real victim and what is appropriate behaviour in terms of a genuine allegation and these factors play out as well. Unfortunately for complainants, a spotlight is shone on someone's personal background, their character and behaviour in a sexual offence case and all these records are equally problematic. Counselling records are particularly acute because they are part of someone's healing process but the issues they give rise to in terms of privacy and discrimination, arise in all those other records as well.