Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

I do not propose to accept this amendment for two reasons. First, a legislative provision which gives a person a right to make an application to a court is normally understood as permitting another person to make that application on his or her behalf. Subsection (3)(a) follows this approach by simply providing that upon application by the person in respect of whom the offence was committed, the court shall hear the evidence of the victim. This formulation facilitates the continuation of the current practice whereby it is the prosecuting counsel who generally makes the application on behalf of the victim. The Deputy's objective in tabling this amendment is already achieved and so it is unnecessary.

Second, there is a concern that Deputy Rabbitte's amendment, if accepted, could give, or might appear to give, the prosecution the right to make an application to the court on its own behalf, without establishing the wishes of the victim. I say this because the amendment presents the prosecution as an alternative to the victim. As the Minister stated at the select committee, the right to make a victim impact statement belongs to the victim, and the decision whether to exercise that right must be left to him or her. We must remember that not all victims wish to go through the ordeal of giving evidence at the sentencing hearing. Indeed, this is recognised in subsection (4), which provides that the absence of a victim impact statement shall not give rise to an inference on the part of the sentencing court that the offence had little or no effect on the victim. While I accept it is unlikely that the prosecution would proceed without consulting the victim, Deputy Rabbitte's amendment would leave open that possibility. On that basis, since I do not believe this would be in the interest of victims, I will be opposing the amendment.

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