Results 15,801-15,820 of 32,916 for speaker:Catherine Connolly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: It would be very helpful, would it not as it would identify the reasons? Unfortunately, Deputy O'Callaghan's Bill does not catch the prior to prosecution stage either, which is a limitation that deserves further consideration. The delegates are saying the legislation does not capture the obvious defect or the obvious-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Does Mr. Purcell agree?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Absolutely. That is what we are here for, but it takes a little while to gain a proper understanding. On paper, there seems to be a very good scheme in place under the Legal Aid Board, but it is limited. The uptake is limited. We have some data for 2017 and 2018, but we do not have figures for earlier years as there has been no review of the scheme by the Department.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: What do the delegates suggest with reference to this amendment? Do they suggest we broaden it? Have they thought about a wording for it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Deputy O'Callaghan might look at the issue again. What does the existing scheme cover? Reference was made to hand-holding. Is it a hand-holding exercise or a one-off consultation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Is it an ongoing process of hand holding? Perhaps I should stop using that term. Is it an ongoing or limited process?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: That is a particular example. Let us look the general picture. When there is a prosecution, are there a number of consultations with the victim during the process?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Does anybody know?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: I am a bit lost. I thought that there was a system in place, under the legal aid scheme, to assist victims and provide them with independent legal advice in a limited number of cases. What is the nature of that independent legal advice, as a model for what Deputy O'Callaghan is proposing? Is it a good model? Is it a hand-holding exercise or is it limited to one consultation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: It is potentially a very good system, but we do not know how it is operating in those limited cases.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: I agree with Ms Breathnach. This Bill does not capture what the Law Society wants.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: That brings us back to the cost implications, which the Deputy might address. I feel that is absolutely necessary. I welcome the Bill but it must be broadened. Unfortunately, we are doing that in the absence of data, which should be at our fingertips. Similarly, there has been no review of or update on the 2017 Act and how it is operating.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: From where did Ms Breathnach get those figures?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: I ask Ms Breathnach to repeat them.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Other figures being cited are much lower than that. We will come back to those numbers later.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Those figures should be readily available in order that we can form policy around them. I refer to the way forward. I am not sure which-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: That is true, but the Department must also have an approach to the low uptake of this scheme, given the prevalence of violence against women, and to a lesser extent against men. There is an onus on the Government and the Department to conduct a review of that scheme and identify the issues in order that we can introduce proper legislation based on policy. I fully support amending this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: Ms Counihan is doing well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: That is a very good point but it is an operational issue.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018: Discussion (13 Nov 2019)

Catherine Connolly: It was suggested that RCNI might provide this service, though it currently has even fewer resources than the Legal Aid Board. Which organisation should provide this service, assuming it was granted sufficient resources to do so?