Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

We discussed that issue on Second Stage within the context of the section. I went back to the Attorney General on the basis of the concerns expressed. He advised me that as it stands it is legally sound. The option has been given to the fitness to practise committee where it is considered appropriate to call for direct testimony from the complainant over and above the original complaint, which is usually a letter or whatever. I have been advised by the Attorney General that, in the context of the current legislative framework and the concerns that have been outlined, the normal procedures are being enshrined in this legislation. People who make a complaint can follow it through, but one is not complaining against oneself. One must give evidence, but one is not giving evidence against oneself. One gives evidence in the way in which one perceives things have been done. It is for the fitness to practise committee to make an adjudication on the rights and wrongs of the case. While I appreciate that the Senator comes from that ilk, and I do not come from that persuasion, I have been advised that the legislation is legally sound as it stands.