Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I agree with those Senators who said they would prefer not to be here today. I would prefer if a different view had been taken of this matter. The Director of Public Prosecutions is independent of me. I cannot and do not criticise him for taking his own view of the law. Where two views are open in respect of a statute, however, it is a matter of legal construction — a rule of the criminal justice legal system — that the construction which is more favourable to innocence must be accepted by a court. In this case, to direct prosecutions required the DPP not merely to come to the view that he was right, but also to think that nobody else was right. In other words, the view had to have been formed that two reasonable constructions were not possible. It is obvious that the Attorney General and I agree with the DPP in that regard, as do some members of the District Court Judiciary.

There is nothing I can do because I respect the independence of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. I cannot telephone the DPP to say, "Ah, please", or "Maybe you are wrong, maybe you will reconsider". We do not have that relationship, for very good reasons. I have the height of respect for the DPP. He has taken the initiative of suggesting to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and other agencies that there should be more joined-up thinking. However, it is his decision whether a prosecution is instituted and his alone. A different view taken by others is of no significance if he gives a clear direction to the gardaí to prosecute in certain cases. I can do nothing other than legislate in such circumstances.

I thank the House and all the Members for their contributions to this debate. I regret that I have had to trespass on their time with this urgent matter. We should not forget that there is a motion for early signature. I ask Members to support it.