Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

On behalf of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I take the opportunity to speak to the topic put down by Senator Keaveney. The Minister had noted the earlier comments by the Senator in this House on Wednesday last on the Garda Síochána not providing sufficient feedback to victims of crime and those who report crime.

In 1999, the then Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform published a victims charter entitled Victims Charter and Guide to the Criminal Justice System, which provides a written framework of rights and entitlements against which crime victims can measure the level and standard of treatment received in their dealings across all sections of the criminal justice system, including the Garda Síochána. A guiding principle of the charter is a commitment to give victims of crime a central place in the criminal justice system. As indicated in the charter, victims of crime are entitled to respect and compassion from all the services involved in supporting the victims.

In it charter, an updated version of which is available on its website, the Garda states that it is committed to addressing the needs and concerns of the victims of crime in an empathetic, understanding and problem-solving manner. This is an important statement when one considers that gardaí are present when a crime is reported, as it is investigated, when an alleged perpetrator is apprehended, as the case proceeds through the courts system, or through the youth diversion systems, and sometimes when an offender is released from prison.

The Garda Síochána undertakes to respond promptly to victims of crime who report an offence and provide them with the name, telephone number and station of the investigating garda. They will outline the investigative processes to the victim and will inform him or her of the support and assistance available in the non-governmental arena, such as the victims of crime helpline. The helpline provides the opportunity for people who are victims of crime to find emotional support on the phone, while it also provides information on the criminal justice system, on local face-to-face services and national specialist services.

As outlined in the Garda charter, Garda family liaison officers are appointed to keep victims, or victims' families in cases of homicide, informed of the progress of more serious investigations and to ensure that they are afforded appropriate and relevant emotional, psychological, informational and practical support. The local superintendent will appoint a Garda family liaison officer to families of victims, who have been or are being subjected to emotional or psychological trauma related to incidents of homicide, kidnappings, false imprisonment, hostage siege cases, crimes where violence or an immediate threat of violence has been visited upon the victim, suicide and road traffic fatalities. In cases of rape and other sexual offences a member of the investigating team, approved by the local superintendent, will perform the functions of the Garda family liaison officer.

The Garda Síochána commits in the victims' charter to making special arrangements for a number of other categories of victims, including victims of domestic violence, older people, people with any form of disability, people who are unable to communicate fluently in Irish or English, victims of crime who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, and victims of racist incidents.

Under the Garda Síochána charter, the Garda Síochána will also advise a victim where a suspect is being charged and keep them informed about the progress of the case, including whether the victim is to be called as a witness and the process involved.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform established the victims of crime office as an executive office of his Department in September 2008. Its aim is to ensure that there are competent, caring and efficient services for victims of crime across the State's criminal justice agencies and in the voluntary sector. The office provides a secretariat for the commission for the support of victims of crime, the funding body for voluntary sector organisations supporting victims of crime. The director of the victims of crime office is a member of the commission. The victims of crime office has had a number of contacts at senior level with the Garda Síochána regarding its interaction with victims of crime. Both the office and the Garda recognise the importance of communicating with victims and keeping them informed about their cases. Good communication by the Garda with victims has the potential to increase community confidence in, and co-operation with, the force.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has asked the commission for the support of victims of crime to carry out a review of the victims charter with a view to updating it. A particular focus of the commission's engagement with the Garda Síochána has been on implementation of the charter and improving the flow of information to victims in particular. The revised charter is expected to be available later in the year. I hope that the Senator and the House will agree that the Minister has put in place mechanisms to encourage the Garda Síochána to improve the quantity and quality of information which it provides for victims.