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

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 6, before section 5, but in Part 1, to insert the following new section:

"PART 2

WITNESS INTIMIDATION

5.—The Minister shall, by regulation under this section, make provision for identification of suspects by witnesses, victims and other persons where the suspect can be identified through a one-way screen and the identity of the witness, victim or other person can be withheld.".

A month ago I was approached on behalf of somebody who had been raped. The question of an identification parade arose and I was asked what was the process and the procedure involved. The person concerned did not want to face the trauma of seeing her assailant face to face under any circumstances. I tabled a question to the Minister on 20 March on whether a process involving two-way mirrors was available for identity parades in order that a rape victim or a victim of a serious assault would not have his or her identity disclosed. The response was that according to the Garda authorities, formal identification parades were the main way of identifying a suspect by a victim or witness prior to a court case. Instructions issued to every member of the Garda Síochána set out how a parade should be conducted, based on established best practice and case law precedent. In the response the Minister continued to state that the process did not involve the use of a two-way mirror.

This confirmed to me that the trauma faced by the person concerned was absolutely genuine and I was horrified. I examined the situation and found that in the United Kingdom and other countries it had been changed. The Minister indicated he was reviewing the matter to see what improvements, if any, might be made, including the possibility of making the procedure less traumatic for victims and witnesses.

I was quite affected by the situation and the thought that the assailant might get away because the victim was horrified at the notion of having to face him in an identification parade but I was heartened to find that the issue was dealt with in the report of the balance in the criminal law review group.

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