David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for this amendment. Since 1992 it has been possible to use intermediaries in certain court proceedings to facilitate the questioning of witnesses. This Bill will extend that possibility, subject to the decision of the court, to all child victims. However, the use of intermediaries has not become common practice in the years since the statute was enacted. While there is no established current practice and no community of practitioners with whom to engage in developing best practice, I would be reluctant to expand the use of intermediaries to include not just questions but also the responses of witnesses, particularly as this issue is quite complex, given it seeks to balance the rights of a victim to give evidence and an accused's right to a fair trial.

It is my hope that an extension of the scope for intermediaries in this Bill will spark renewed interest in this service. Once some practice develops, I would be willing to revisit the expansion of the functions of intermediaries in the manner proposed here. I suggest that any such expansion of functions would be best examined in the wider context of the development of best practice guidance for such services.

On a technical note, the amendment seeks to expand the functions of intermediaries with regard to non-relevant offences but has not made a corresponding amendment with regard to relevant offences. These offences are more serious under the existing Criminal Evidence Act and include sexual violence or threatening offences and human trafficking offences. It appears to me to be inappropriate to expand the functions of intermediaries only for those offences where they are least likely to be of value. I hope that helps colleagues.