Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Thank you. I am glad Senators raised the issue because it is helpful to every Member to understand. The issue here is making sure that anything that is said in this House is not used to prevent some victim in the future getting justice because something that is said here is used by a criminal as a defence in an appeal case or it prevents the DPP from pursuing a more appropriate sentence. However, I will circulate the ruling. The problem is that it is a fine line. I want every Member to be aware that policy and the issues of the day should be discussed in this House. I want them to be discussed here because that is what this House and the Order of Business are about, but I want us to be careful where it gets into that area where we could end up interfering with future judicial action.

I thank the Senator for raising the point of order. I call the Deputy Leader.