Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As has been said, section 34 regulates the disclosure of the content of third party counselling or therapy records in sexual offence trials. The disclosure of counselling or therapy records in the context of criminal proceedings, especially in relation to sexual violence, touches on a number of sensitive issues and a "balancing of rights", a phrase I will be using quite a bit in terms of responding to the amendments. Clearly the right to a fair trial for an accused must be respected. However, so too must the right of the victim not to feel further violated in the criminal justice process.It has been of huge concern over the years that that has actually happened. It is really important to have clear law about the disclosure of records. I am very pleased that we have been able to include it in the legislation.

Since the Bill was published I have received many submissions proposing various changes. I thank in particular Rape Crisis Network Ireland, CARI, and the child sexual assault units at Temple Street hospital and Crumlin children's hospital, which have made very extensive submissions on this section. They will influence the approach I am taking to the issue. I have also gone back to the Attorney General on the proposed changes. It is an exercise in balancing competing rights and we need to get that right from a constitutional point of view. There is also an important constitutional point there.

Unfortunately, I am not in a position to introduce amendments today, but I will do so during the later passage of the Bill. I wish to outline some of the amendments I hope to table at a later point, at which time we will discuss them again. I want to remove the references to the "competence of the complainant or witness to testify" from the section, as I am persuaded by the submissions that counselling records are not relevant to competence.

We are not discussing amendments Nos. 34 and 35, so I will move on to look at a number of other changes I am proposing. For the purpose of clarity and on foot of legal advice, I propose to rename the records-----