Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

On the section, I want to make a couple of brief points. The provision in section 6(5) that "The trial court may, on the application of the prosecution or the accused, where it considers it appropriate having regard to the orders the making of which are to be considered at a preliminary hearing and, in particular, where the making of a relevant order is sought, direct that the preliminary trial hearing concerned be held as close in time to the date for which the trial is set down for hearing as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances." I apprehend that may be that if one is bringing back a witness from, say, America one does not want to have it extended over two trips to Ireland or something like that.In general terms, I would like the thinking behind that provision to be clarified to the House. Why would one want it as close "as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances"? Does that provision include the converse, that is, that the trial judge can have it as distant as he or she likes in order to separate the two issues fully? I am somewhat mystified as to why that particular subjection was included, what its intended purpose is, and why we are putting that particular provision there. As sure as night follows day, some lawyer is going to say that it means something to some judge and that it either supports some proposition or does not. I am left wondering what in fact is intended by it.

I have a further point to make on subsection (8)(c), but we can come back to that later.