Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 8, between lines 26 and 27, to insert the following:

"(4) Where a person in respect of whom an offence has been committed, or a family member of that person, proposes to give evidence under subsection (3) orally rather than in writing, it shall not be necessary for the court to give any particular direction or warning to that person in respect of his or her evidence.".

This amendment wants to make it clear that there should be no need for a warning to be given by a court to a person giving an impact statement. This has to do with the ruling of Mrs. Justice Fidelma Macken in the Court of Criminal Appeal in the O'Donoghue case in which she suggested the court might warn relatives that they would be in contempt of court if they went outside certain parameters. It should not be necessary for such a warning to be given.