Results 15,661-15,680 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Senator has availed of the opportunity to push a door which the Minister left somewhat ajar during the debate on Committee Stage. There was a suggestion, in what the Minister said, that a judge making a recommendation that someone in need of psychiatric inpatient treatment in the Prison Service should have regard to that. The Minister, having reflected on the matter, is not swayed in his...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Amendment No. 42 which was taken with amendment No. 31, which reduced the period of referral from 28 to 14 days, might meet the point of Senator Henry's amendment. Otherwise the Minister is opposed to the amendment for the reasons already stated in regard to amendments Nos. 22 and 30. If the consultant psychiatrist or the designated centre refuse to accept the person, what are the courts to do?

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The position is that the plea of diminished responsibility to which I referred in my last contribution, was introduced in United Kingdom law in the 1950s. This plea does not eliminate criminal liability; it reduces the conviction from a conviction for murder to a conviction for manslaughter. Murder carries with it a mandatory life sentence and for manslaughter the penalty is at the discretion...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I do not think the construction the Senator has put on this is correct. The Minister mentioned on Committee Stage references in subsections (3), (5), (8) and (10) of this section to offences other than the offence charged. I presume this is what Senator Cummins is referring to. The Minister explained that this is to take account of cases where a person charged with one offence may be...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform takes the view that the amendment is not appropriate. The legislation we are enacting must be read in the context of the evolution of our criminal law. There is a decided judicial authority on the precise meaning of insanity and on the precise circumstances in which the plea of insanity will excuse an offender from criminal liability. The...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Which amendment are we discussing?

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The purpose of amendment No. 2 tabled by the Independent Senators concerning the Long Title of the Bill and the related amendments is to provide that the body carrying out regular reviews of cases involving the detention of persons found not guilty by reason of insanity or unfit to be tried in designated centres, including the Central Mental Hospital, should be the Mental Health Commission,...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This amendment adds the appropriate references in the definition section of the Bill. The definition of a prison is included in a definition section within section 2, which deals with the definition of designated centres. However, section 2 is being replaced with a new section in light of commitments made by the Minister during the course of debate on Committee Stage. The definition of a...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Those in the first category will not have proceeded to trial because of their unfitness to plead. Those in the latter category will not have had the mental element necessary to commit a crime. Persons covered by the new arrangements will have been sentenced in accordance with law for the commission of a crime, but will have developed some form of mental illness during the completion of their...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, Deputy Tim O'Malley, re-examined section 2 in light of the discussion on Committee Stage regarding Senator Henry's substantive point relating to the need to consult with the Inspector of Mental Health Services. He has recast the entire section in a separate amendment which is being discussed with this amendment. Although he has...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister did not accept a similar amendment on Committee Stage on the basis that it was neither necessary nor desirable. Provision on these lines, which is akin to a reversal of the burden of proof, would be objectionable as it would alter fundamentally existing law on these cases. The amendment also ignores the position that fitness to plead or, as it will be called following the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The difficulty with the amendment is that the matters set out in section 3(2) must be determined solely by a judge. As the Minister stated on Committee Stage, there is no need to hear the opinions of two doctors on an issue which will, in all likelihood, be obvious to the court. Once a determination is made that a person is unfit to be tried, the judge may proceed to hear evidence in the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In the normal course of events the evidence of psychiatrists will be heard by a judge on matters of this type and it would be extraordinary if that were not the case. There is a difference, however, between indicating that a judge will hear evidence as a matter of course and practice and prescribing in legislation that, as a necessary precondition of a judge exercising his or her...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: During the debate on section 3 on Committee Stage the Minister indicated he was considering including a further ground in the section relating to unfitness to be tried. This relates to a person's inability to elect for trial by jury in a case involving an indictable offence. Sometimes a person must elect as to whether he or she wants to be tried in the District Court or Circuit Court. This...

Child Abuse. (14 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am replying on behalf of the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney. On 19 June 2001, the Government conferred additional functions on the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. This additional function was to inquire into three vaccine trials referred to by the Deputy which were reported on by the chief medical officer in his report on three clinical trials...

Community Employment Schemes. (14 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin. I thank Deputy Healy for raising this matter on the Adjournment. Community employment offers work experience and training opportunities for the long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged groups. The aim is to assist participants to progress to a job in the open labour market. The number of...

Closed Circuit Television Systems. (14 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am replying on behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I hope to give him some information about this subject. An application for a Garda CCTV system in Drogheda has been received by the CCTV advisory committee, which was established by the Garda Commissioner to advise on all matters relating to CCTV systems. There are 17 CCTV...

Closed Circuit Television Systems. (14 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not denying the need. The installation of phase one systems in Bray, Dundalk, Dún Laoghaire and Limerick has been completed and these systems are now fully operational. Thirteen of the 18 cameras in Galway are also fully operational. It is proposed to install the final five cameras in tandem with major redevelopment works currently being undertaken by Galway City Council in the Eyre...

Services for People with Disabilities. (14 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am pleased to take this opportunity to clarify the matter relating to the provision of speech and language therapy for the person on whose behalf Deputy Wall has raised this matter. The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its...