Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Jonathan O'Brien, the issue of competence to testify was removed on Committee Stage and is gone.

In regard to Deputy Coppinger's point, there has been a lot of discussion about this whole issue of counselling records. The reality of what has been happening in recent times is that there has been no regulation in this regard. Records have been requested but, because it is unregulated, there has been huge concern in regard to private records. People go to a counsellor assuming that the discussion is private and that they will not end up in the situation the Deputy described. People working in the area have put a lot of work into this issue and want to see greater regulation and protection for victims, which is why we are coming forward with this legislation in order to regulate the issue. It is a protection for those appearing in court and a protection around counselling records. It is a regulation of this area which is not there at present and which most of the groups working with victims have been quite concerned about. What we are always trying to do, obviously, is to get a fair balance between privacy and a person's right to a fair trial. There are always competing rights which must be balanced. We are trying to deal with this issue of the availability of counselling records in a way that is fair.

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