Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I presume that was an unintentional mistake.

The point I was making before the Acting Chairman interrupted was that we need to look at this again. The purpose of section (2A) is that it will provide the mechanism for the court to get out of a situation in which a child witness or a child accused may be identified. The reality of it is that when one looks at section (2A), there is no discretion given to the court because it states that the court shall not dispense with the requirements of subsection (1) in circumstances where it can result in the identification of a child witness or a child accused.

I always prefer to commend the work of others but my view is that the Bill I drafted would be more effective, simpler and more comprehensible. It should not be the case that legislation has to simply be comprehensible to lawyers, legislators or judges. It should be comprehensible to the ordinary man and woman on the street who is reading it. I would recommend to the Minister that subsection (1A) should be amended so that we simply include paragraph (a) of that subsection and that we would put a full stop after "the proceedings concerned related to the death of the child". We already have statutory protections in respect of accused children and in respect of children who are witnesses, subsection (2) will facilitate that.

The Acting Chairman is stopping me again. I was told I have 51 seconds left.

See this speech in context