Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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135. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill, heads of which were published in 2015. [35909/16]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government approved the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill in July 2015. This landmark new Bill will introduce for the first time statutory rights for victims of crime. The Bill is being drafted as a priority and I expect to publish it during the current Dáil session.

The Bill will transpose into Irish law Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime fulfilling a commitment in the Programme for Government to enact legislation to strengthen the rights of victims of crime and their families.

At an operational level, arrangements have been put in place to ensure that rights conferred by the Directive are provided to crime victims both within existing legislation and on a non-statutory basis. In practical terms this has meant that most of the rights conferred by the Directive are currently being made available for victims.