Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We would concur with and support Senator van Turnhout in the issue she is raising. I appreciate that the Minister might need to find other legalese to address her concerns. From working with services that deal with rape crisis, including those involving children, I share the concerns. There is almost a sense of a doctor-client privilege when a person is being treated in such a scenario. Members of the public would regard that as extending to a therapy situation. Although the person with whom they are working might not be a medical doctor, they enter such scenarios in the understanding that what they say will be confidential or else they would not disclose. That is also found with people who enter counselling for drug and alcohol addiction. That confidentiality is a fundamental part of the treatment.

Many rape crisis centres would advise that it is very hard to get a woman to take a court case against a significant other. Any support that can be given to a person who has been subjected to any form of abuse is absolutely necessary. While I do not have the figures, I imagine the proportion of people who come forward is extremely small. The amendment would help women, men and children in those desperate situations to have more confidence in coming forward. I urge the Minister to take on board the spirit of the amendment.