Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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Question 10: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his plans to install two-way mirrors in every Garda station in order that victims of crime can identify a suspect without having to come face to face with that person; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12991/07]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I take the Deputy's reference to two way mirrors in his question to be to one-way mirrors. I did not think up that line — that came from one of my officials. Deputy Cuffe has a fan somewhere.

The process by which the identification of a suspect by a victim or witness occurs is an important part of the criminal justice process. Formal identification parades are the main way this information is tested prior to court. In this jurisdiction, there are no published statutory provisions governing the procedure to be followed in the conduct of an identity parade.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that instructions issued to every member of the Garda set out how, based on established best practice and case law precedent, a parade should be conducted. The current procedure used by the Garda was introduced following advice from the law officers. It involves each participant in an identity parade being assigned a number. To ensure there is no doubt as to the person the victim or witness has identified, it is necessary that a clear identification is made. This may be done in a number of ways, including pointing or stating the position or number of a person on the line-up or stating a number assigned to them. Prior to this the procedure necessitated the witness or victim placing their hand on the person as part of the identification process, which does not involve a one-way mirror.

The balance in the criminal law review group, which reported to me last month, noted that it was not clear that a change in the law was required to allow the use of one-way mirrors. The group favoured the concept of allowing an injured party to identify the suspect through a one way screen as far as practicable. I support this recommendation in principle and I am considering it with a view to determining how it should be implemented. Should dedicated rooms with galleries, lighting and so on be established? Should a portable screen be used, which could be transported between Garda stations? This involves logistics and resources exercises. If a mirror is placed in every Garda station, how often will it be used? Should mirrors be deployed on a divisional basis or would it be better to use a portable unit, which could permit a witness to identify somebody where he or she was being detained rather than bringing him or her to a station in which the one-way mirror system was in place?

Generally, I agree completely with the Deputy that it was unsatisfactory that victims were required to put their hands on somebody but that is no longer the case. They should not be brought into the person's presence but identity parades must be the subject of some formality and scrutiny because there is no point in bringing six small people and one large person in if a large person is the suspect. Somebody must observe what happens and there must be some degree of formality. The quality of an identity parade is hugely important to the reliability of the evidence in question. Bearing in mind existing law, which is quite circumspect about, and suspicious of, visual identification, it is all the more important that we get this right. I am grateful to the Deputy for raising the issue and I intend to progress it in the context of the report of the Hogan committee.

Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I thank the Minister for noting my belated April fool's attempt. However, this is a deadly serious issue and it must be an awful experience for a victim of a rape or a mugging to have to touch his or her attacker on the shoulder. One can only imagine the trauma a victim would experience if forced to go through that. It is almost as traumatic for the victim to look his or her attacker in the eye in a line up.

It is not rocket science to retrofit one-way glass in an office in a Garda station and such a room could be used as a normal office most of the time. It is simply a matter of adjusting the lighting behind the glass. Will the Minister listen to the Rape Crisis Centre and Victim Support? They want the suffering and trauma experienced by victims of such crimes to be limited. These facilities should be in place in larger Garda stations, which experience significant crime reporting. It is not impractical to retrofit such rooms and it is time to move on this. This would be a small but practical step to make victims of crime feel safer when coming forward to report a crime. It would also send a signal that the Government and the Garda will provide support for people who have been through traumatic events. It is grossly traumatic for a rape victim to have to face his or her attacker, look the person in the eye and, if not touch them on the shoulder, make a sign that the person attacked him or her. That can be just as frightening as dealing with the aftermath of violence, rape or a serious assault.

I ask the Minister to move much more quickly on this. Many European countries have such facilities in place and they are also commonplace in the US. As a matter of human decency, courtesy and respect, we should move ahead with such one-way mirrors.

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I agree with the Deputy but clearly if I was an accused person who allegedly was picked out in an identity parade and I did not see the person picking me out or did not see who was with the person at the time or what they were doing vis-À-vis, me, that would be a matter of concern. One of the implications of the one-way mirror system is that the accused cannot at a later point say what was happening when he or she was identified and, therefore, a case could be made for videotaping not merely the parade itself but also the room in which the identification took place behind the mirror so it could not be said afterwards the person had difficulties pointing out somebody and pointed towards one person or another in circumstances where the accused could not see what was happening. That is the countervailing difficulty, which would tend to suggest dedicated suites should be used for the purpose. That, in turn, would involve making a serious decision on the number of suites throughout the State. These issues must be considered.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister accept he is dealing with the issue in his usual abstract, academic way? An operational approach to the issue is needed, as Deputy Cuffe rightly highlighted. We discussed this issue last week in the context of an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill 2007 and the Minister was at the same level referring to difficulties. Something must be done about this because it is not a new issue. It was mentioned in the Leahy report five years ago and it was touched on in the Hogan report last week. There are two issues. Is there a need for legal cover?

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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No.

Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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The Hogan report said this was doubtful and I tabled an enabling amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill in case it was needed. The second issue is practical. As Deputy Cuffe pointed out, one-way mirrors are used in most other countries. We do not have to reinvent the wheel. Can the Government not learn from what they are doing and implement a similar system?

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I agree with the Deputy that this is an urgent matter which should be addressed. A decision must be made on this. I do not organise the interior of Garda stations and I urge others to do so.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I thought the Minister micromanaged everything.

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I do not.