Victim Support Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-14
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

To be clear, there is no requirement whatsoever to wait for an EU legislative process to conclude before we change measures in domestic law, particularly in terms of enhancing support for the victims of crime. The justice committee met in recent days to discuss the victims of crime civil protection orders Bill that I am trying to progress through the House. We heard moving testimony from Sonya Stokes, who the Minister is aware of. Sonya was the victim of horrendous crimes committed by a man who had previously committed several other horrendous crimes. Following his release, Sonya highlighted how traumatised she was and how fearful she was that some form of retribution would be sought. She found out on 30 April that her attacker had deceased in a nursing home on 5 December 2025. She was not informed of the fact. This is one anomaly that we could look at changing. It would only take a technical amendment to the legislation. Would the Minister be open to that?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-14/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-14