Ms Maria McDonald:

If a person is not defined as a victim, he or she is not entitled to his or her rights under the directive. CSO figures published in June and July last indicate the Garda Síochána is not categorising crimes correctly. We are aware of many instances of crime against people who are blind not being defined as crime because nobody could collaborate the evidence. Currently, in most instances, road traffic collision victims are not identified as victims of crime. I will give an example. When a road traffic collision occurs between two cars and one person is seriously injured as a result, the garda who arrives at the scene could record that incident as dangerous driving or drink driving causing death, which means a person would not be provided with information because he or she may not be deemed to be a victim in the circumstances. We need to change the ethos and methodology used by the Garda in identifying whether a person is a victim. The presumption must be that a person is a victim such that he or she can be provided with the information to allow him or her access his or her rights under the directive.