Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 10, between lines 23 and 24, to insert the following:“(6) Where a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of the Ombudsman Commission, as the case may be, decides to exclude a person from accompanying a victim pursuant to subsection (5), the member or officer, as the case may be, shall inform the victim that subsection (4) continues to apply and he or she may be accompanied by another person under that subsection and may make such arrangements as are necessary to be so accompanied.”.

In moving amendment No. 9, I remind Deputies that on Committee Stage, amendments were proposed that sought to ensure that where a victim is accompanied either during first contact when making a complaint or during an interview and the garda or officer of GSOC excludes the accompanying person, the victim would be given an opportunity to arrange for an alternative person to accompany him or her. There were difficulties with the amendments proposed at that Stage. Amendments Nos. 9, 18 and 19 address this issue. Again, I note that in each circumstance, the victim is present at his or her own volition and there is not a power on the part of the Garda officer or any other officer to compel the victim to stay or to continue with the contact, complaint or interview at all. The victim is at all times free to come or go and to make arrangements as appropriate in respect of any alternative accompanying person. With this in mind, the proposed amendments require the garda or the officer to inform the victim that although an accompanying person has been excluded, the victim still has a right to be accompanied and may make any appropriate arrangements to be so accompanied.

See this speech in context