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

It is an interesting amendment and debate. At present, training has been provided to all State solicitors. Both administrative and legal staff of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions have received training. An Garda Síochána and prosecutors nationwide have received training. The Irish Prison Service and the Courts Service have also undergone training to enable greater support for victims of crime. Training has been given to a number of non-governmental organisations involved in assisting victims of crime, for example the Victims of Crime Helpline, the Rape Crisis Centre and Advic. These organisations are to receive further training from the DPP's office following the finalisation of this Bill and we are all anxious that it be enacted as soon as possible. Furthermore, An Garda Síochána has specially trained personnel working in its victim services office in each division and 474 trained family liaison officers working to support victims of crime.

In many ways, this is a new dawn for victims. Detailed information of the training provided by many of these organisations is already published on their websites, for example, by the Garda Síochána, the Garda Ombudsman Commission and the Courts Service. It is clear that training is being provided and information about it is being published by all relevant authorities.

I wish to raise concerns about this specific amendment.

This amendment appears to require certain non-statutory bodies to report on training in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the EU directive. However, there are no provisions in this Act and the provisions of the directive do not require such bodies to provide this training.

Article 25.3 of the directive requires member states to recommend to those responsible for the training of lawyers to make available general and specialist training to increase the awareness of lawyers to the needs of victims. This has already been done. I want to take this opportunity to re-echo that request and recommendation here.

There is no provision in the Bill that requires this training so it is hard to see what training requirement the amendment is based on. Senators may not have been aware that a lot is already happening. I take on board the importance of training. I thank the Senators for the opportunity to highlight the importance of training and of making available on websites what training has taken place. That is already happening and, therefore, there is no need for this amendment. I will not be accepting the amendment.