Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

Of the 47 cases the DPP prosecuted, 27 resulted in convictions but the problem is that there were 412 cases that year. The problem, which arose long before the actual initiation of prosecution, is the long delay, the vulnerability of the victim and the fact that adequate support is not available for the victim from the point of view of counselling, mentoring and treating them as victims rather than mere witnesses in a case taken by the State. I urge the Minister to take this issue seriously.

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