Results 8,901-8,920 of 14,127 for speaker:David Stanton

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: Certainly.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: Certainly, we will look at it. There is no problem there. Obviously, we will take on board anything Deputies have to say with respect to revisiting or going back to this on Report Stage. I am keen to make this point. All a victim has to do is to say: "I am a victim of an offence and I have suffered harm." Once a person says that, then the supports have to kick in. That is the thrust,...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: This is a criminal justice directive so we must be very careful and keep that in mind. In other member states, there is a greater divide between the civil and the administrative. This is a criminal justice directive dealing with criminal matters, which is something Deputies might want to consider.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: I move amendment No. 10:In page 9, before line 1, to insert the following:"Application of Act 4.(1) The provisions of this Act shall not apply to a decision referred to in section 7(2)(c), (d), (e)or (f)* which is made before the commencement of the provisions concerned. (2) The application of this Act is not dependent on the commission of an offence having to be established (nor is it...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: That is it.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: I listened carefully to Deputy Daly. She is opposed to section 4 in its entirety, but many of her objections will be met by my amendment. The Deputy also opposes the provision that limits the Bill's application as regards information on a decision to end an investigation, not to bring a prosecution or to deal with a person other than by a trial. From a practical perspective, to make all...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: I thank the Deputies for these amendments. As they stated, there are a number of objectives in this group of amendments on the provision of victim support services. I will address each in turn. I am sorry, but does someone else want to speak?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: I thank the Deputies for these amendments. As they stated, this group contains a number of objectives on the provision of victim support services. I will go through each amendment in turn. Amendments Nos. 14 and 15 elaborate on what support services are to be included in the term "services" by including some types of service but not others. This might be ill advised. The term "services...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: I have listened carefully to what colleagues have said. There is an error in Deputy O'Brien's amendment. It reads "services providing for victims" rather than "services providing support for victims". It does not make any sense.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: Deputy Daly's amendment asks gardaí to include "where relevant, medical support, appropriate specialist services". This would put into law a requirement for gardaí to identify appropriate specialist services for a victim.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: It asks the gardaí to identify a specialist medical service. The gardaí are not, in the main, qualified to identify a specialist medical service. I would imagine a victim would go to a GP who would make the decision. I cannot accept asking a garda of any rank, who does not have medical qualifications, to identify a specialist to whom the victim of an offence should go....

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: How is a garda going to know what to offer from among the myriad specialist services which are available?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: We are talking about first contact. This means that it is broad enough to offer support to victims and, if somebody is injured in some way, the information on first contact is important. It is often provided in booklet form. It would be very difficult to provide all of the detailed information encompassed by the amendment in booklet form. Where a victim has first contact with the Garda or...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: This is first contact information that is given to people. Section 6(8) provides that a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of the Ombudsman Commission, as the case may be, shall, where the victim consents, arrange for the victim to be referred to a service which provides support for victims. That is a different provision. This discussion concerns giving information. I do...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: I have concerns about the amendment. Very often, we are providing information in booklet format. If it was made so specific, I am not sure all the information could be provided in writing. Deputy Jack Chambers has pointed out the problem of triaging for appropriate specialist services. It is a bit tricky and we may need to amend it. However, Deputy Daly is quite persuasive. We will...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: It is a bit of a balance here. I think we can live with it.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: I move amendment No. 16:In page 10, between lines 3 and 4, to insert the following:“(g) any particular measures, procedures or arrangements which are available to a victim who is a child;”. Amendment No. 16 inserts a new subsection into section 6(1) to provide that a victim who is a child must be offered information at first contact on any particular measures, procedures or...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: Has the amendment not been withdrawn?

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: That was the restorative justice group of amendments.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016: Committee Stage (17 May 2017)

David Stanton: In my many years in this House, I have heard the question of these two phrases come up again and again. I am of the view that the phrase "as soon as practicable" imposes exactly the same obligations on the authorities as the phrase "without unnecessary delay". The phrase "as soon as practicable" is preferred in the Bill as it frequently occurs in the Statute Book anyway in similar contexts,...