Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Again, I believe we are not a million miles away from each other. What we are trying to do, as far as possible, is to ensure the acquitted person, by purposely absenting himself or herself or arranging a situation whereby he or she is not available to the court, in effect can veto the application being made for a retrial.

As is the case, the court must be satisfied that in all the circumstances it is in the interests of justice to proceed and that the hearing may go ahead in the person's absence. The legislation as drafted addresses that situation by applying the requirement on the court to consider all the circumstances and to then apply the interests of justice test to ensure there is an independent consideration by the court of whether the prosecution gave the subject of the application or appeal reasonable notice in regard to his or her appearance. The issue is well addressed in the legislation as drafted and as such the proposed amendments are not necessary.