Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-10
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Alan Kelly (LAB), Tipperary North

We should be spending hours discussing this instead of 26 minutes. I am not going to take up all the time because I have spoken on this at length in the committee. On behalf of the Labour Party, I am putting forward an amendment drafted by Lorcan Staines SC for the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre. It proposes a compromise to deal with this highly sensitive issue. Our justice committee had harrowing, very upsetting and detailed evidence given to us directly. Many of us in that portfolio will also have heard about it personally. There is a pendulum here that we have to deal with. We must consider the constitutionality of what we are trying to achieve. I respect that. However, we must also push it as far as we possibly can. That is what this amendment tries to do. When it comes to the actual detail, it is a question of the independent review panel and what is being proposed in the legislation versus the phrase the Minister has introduced, "in the interests of justice", which moved the pendulum. That is where the debate was the last day. We are back here without any change so I have submitted the amendment again.
In spirit, all of us, whether in government or opposition, are of the one mind as to how we need to deal with this. Counselling notes should not be used. It is as simple as that. As legislators, we need to ensure we deal with the issue in a manner that meets constitutional, legal and technical requirements. I am definitely not going to go through it in the same level of detail as I did on Committee Stage, but it is proposed that panel members would create a narrative and that there would be limitations on the information provided in that narrative. That is the format by which we should deal with counselling notes. As a consequence, victims would not be retraumatised and counsellors would be protected. That is what I am trying to achieve. That is what the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and the Labour Party are trying to achieve. It is why we spent so much time supporting this, speaking on it and voting on it on Committee Stage.
I believe there is spiritual support for this within the Minister's own party and within the Government. We believe this extends to the limits of what is achievable constitutionally. It would address the issue of how to deal with counselling notes. It would also ensure that victims are protected. It meets all of the requirements we need to meet within the limitations of what we can do constitutionally. That is why I have pushed the amendment forward again. At this late hour, I ask the Minister to reconsider this and to look at it again because, as I said on Committee Stage, I do not think anybody is going to be happy with the way the Bill is currently drafted by Government. Even if they are willing to walk through and vote for it, I do not think the Minister's own Government colleagues will be happy. As an Opposition Member, I am trying to create a compromise and to ensure we have something we can all support.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-10