David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister's reply is intellectually confused. He talks about the accused person and so on. It is not just the accused who is involved. There must be three areas of consent. The first is that the court must be of the opinion in this respect. That is the first hurdle. The second is that the accused agrees with this and thinks it is in his or her interest to do so. The third is that we have the agreement of the Director of Public Prosecutions. These are all points the Minister raised, as if the Director of Public Prosecutions was offended, taken aback or did not agree with this.

Agreement is contained in the amendment. It includes the agreement of the accused and the consent of the court. All these matters, which the Minister raised quite appropriately, are all met by the amendment. This is a good amendment, it stands in that respect and I do not accept the intellectual thrust of the Minister's argument.