Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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1130.To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the status of the inclusion of counsellor notes in court trial proceedings (details supplied).[34896/24]

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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There is an action under the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence for the Department of Health to examine and review the rationale for the disclosure of counselling notes as part of court proceedings, including a victim/survivor perspective.

By way of background for the Deputy, the issue of the disclosure of counselling records at trial is recognised as a complex issue with the victim’s right to personal privacy on the one hand, and the accused person’s right to a fair trial on the other. The accused’s right to a fair trial includes the right to disclosure of any material that may strengthen the defendant's case or weaken that of the prosecution and counselling records might contain such material.

There is an onus on the prosecution to disclose all relevant information and if the accused’s right to a fair trial is breached, then the conviction will be quashed.

To strike a balance between these conflicting rights, section 19A of the Criminal Evidence Act 1992 was enacted which permits an accused person to make an application to the court for the disclosure of counselling records, and also allows the victim to object to the disclosure of their counselling records.

The O’Malley Review of Protections for Vulnerable Witnesses recommended that the existence of section 19A be brought to the attention of victims and any persons advising them so that victims are aware of their right to object to the disclosure of counselling records and relevant statutory agencies are complying fully with this recommendation.

I can advise the Deputy that scoping work for the delivery of the action in the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender Based Violence for the Department of Health to examine and review the rationale for the disclosure of counselling notes as part of court proceedings, including a victim/survivor perspective, has commenced. This includes preliminary discussions with key stakeholders including with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. An inter-departmental working group has been also established and the inaugural meeting took place at the end of June.

A further meeting took place on the 27 August and representatives from the sexual violence NGO sector have been invited to be members of this group. This will ensure that collaborative input from vital victim/survivor services is captured as an integral part of the process.

The work of this interdepartmental group is expected to be finalised later this year.