Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

The current provisions were modelled on section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 rather than on the Criminal Procedure Act 1993 to which I may have referred on Committee Stage, and I apologise for this error.

I am not aware of any amendment made, to date, regarding section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993. While I have no objection to the intention of the proposed amendment, I do not consider it appropriate to depart from the current position in ordinary criminal law. A practice would appear to exist of making it possible for a relative of a deceased person to make a statement rather than its being enshrined for the moment in law. I am aware, however, that there is an ongoing debate regarding the operation of these provisions in ordinary criminal law. It would appear to be appropriate to await the outcome of this debate and reconsider the provisions at that stage, as appropriate.