Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are dealing with criminal trials and we must be very careful. It is always easy to look at a proposed amendment and point out difficulties with it, and I am not trying to do this for gratuitous reasons. There is a difficulty with it. I have huge alarm bells ringing in respect of the wording of section 32(b)(1), which refers to a person who listens to and gives verbal or other support or encouragement to someone, but encouragement to do what? If I were a lawyer representing someone being prosecuted, the first question I would ask is whether the person was encouraged to lie, tell the truth or make a complaint when there was nothing about which to complain. We must be very careful with this.

I want to state categorically I agree with the general expressions of concern about the way this area is working. The advice of the Attorney General on this amendment as proposed, which is what I must deal with, is that this is a complex area and if we are to address it, we must do so with great care and exact language, which not only protects the privacy of a young child who has been the victim of abuse and ensures counselling they engage in can be appropriately confidential and there is no barrier to engaging in it, but also protects the rights of the accused and ensure evidence which is genuinely relevant to a prosecution is not concealed from the court which could result in an innocent individual being found guilty.

This is a very important discussion.

As I said, I think the Law Reform Commission is the right body to deal with this but I am concerned about the timeframe. I am conscious this has become more of a problem in the past couple of years, in particular. I ask Senator van Turnhout, having given us the wealth of her insights and the benefits of her research, not to press the amendment tonight. For my part, I will engage with the Attorney General on whether in the short timeframe available, she believes that all of the different issues such as issues of constitutional sensitivity could be adequately addresses by her office to facilitate either the Minister bringing forward an appropriate amendment or if Senator van Turnhout produces an amendment for Report Stage. I am conscious that the Bill goes from the Seanad to the Dáil. I expect there is a possibility on Report Stage that I may be telling this House that a number of amendments, which we did not have the time to frame, will be tabled in the Dáil Chamber which will mean the Bill will be returned to this House. If the Attorney General believes the work could be done but not in time for Report Stage in the Seanad but in time to facilitate addressing it in the Dáil, I will tell the Members of this House on Report Stage. I do not want to inhibit Senator van Turnhout in any way from retabling this amendment or tabling amendments which take account of some of the concerns I have expressed on Report Stage.

This is an important issue. I personally would like to ensure we can address it as soon as is possible but we must do so in a very careful way.