Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, and I have listened to the points raised by Deputies this evening and the Government is committed to providing greater supports and protections for victims of crime and ensuring victims are provided with all the information and assistance they need when interacting with the criminal justice system. The Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, has spoken this evening of the considerable recent legislative reforms in this area. The Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017, the Domestic Violence Act 2018 and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 have all significantly improved the supports and protections offered to victims, including measures to better protect victims during the trial process. All these Acts were widely supported, and indeed improved, in this House, which demonstrates the common purpose in our approach to vulnerable victims generally.

In addition to legislative changes, there has been a welcome increase in funding available through the Department of Justice and Equality and Tusla to support services for victims of crime and victims of domestic and sexual violence in particular. Further practical supports have been put in place in the Prison Service, the probation service, the Office of the Director Public Prosecutions and An Garda Síochána.

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, has acknowledged that more still needs to be done, which is why he has established the review of protections for vulnerable witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences. That review will examine many of the issues raised in this Bill and in the House today.

Deputy Connolly raised specific queries and I can confirm that the review arose because of concerns raised at the time of the Belfast rape trial and the review was established following consultation with victim support and women's rights groups, all of whom will have the opportunity to make submissions to the review. In addition, those carrying out the review will engage directly with the aforementioned groups. I understand there may be some degree of duplication between the proposals in the Bill and the existing information and legal advice schemes already available. For this reason, the Minister would like to see these proposals considered not in isolation but within the wider context of the review. This review, as the House has already heard, is currently ongoing under the expert chairmanship of Tom O'Malley and is due to report to the Minister by the end of the year.

I reiterate what my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Stanton, said earlier in the debate, that Government sees merit in the proposals and will not be opposing the Bill. I encourage Deputy O'Callaghan, as he takes this Bill forward, to consider his proposals in light of any recommendations made by the review group.

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