Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Section 5 of the 1993 Act places a mandatory obligation on a judge to take account of victim impact evidence with regard to sexual and violent offences, even where the victim of the family chooses not make an oral statement about the impact of the offence. In response to amendment No. 2, I plan to table an amendment in the other House to deal with the already mentioned categories of offences in which such a mandatory regime is most appropriate. This statutory obligation does not prevent a judge from taking victim impact evidence into account in other cases if he or she considers such evidence would be helpful in determining the appropriate sentence. Judges always have had this discretion and creation of a mandatory obligation in certain categories of cases does not alter that discretion. Creation of a mandatory obligation in certain categories of offences does not alter this. My view remains that this amendment is not necessary.