James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 4b. The Senators' intention with this amendment may be to try to adjust the wording to reflect whether the evidence is in fact compelling enough to meet the threshold that is undetermined at the point of going to appeal. I believe that this addition is unnecessary. Furthermore, I have a real concern that in reality, the wording proposed would have the unintended effect of changing the threshold for permitting these appeals under section 7 of the Bill, so that appeals could now lie wherever the prosecution contends that the threshold, in relation to the type of evidence excluded as inadmissible, has been met rather than the current wording that requires that the evidence actually meets the threshold. I appreciate that this may not be what is intended. The wording of this section and the other sections has been carefully and expertly crafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel precisely to ensure that such unintended effects are avoided. I consider that the wording of the section as currently drafted is more appropriate, and therefore I cannot accept the amendment. We are satisfied that, as drafted, it is the Court of Appeal rather than the prosecution that will effectively decide the threshold. If there was any change to this wording it could have that unintended consequence.