Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 May 2026
47. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the measures he intends to make to protect the right of victims and survivors of sexual offences to access therapy with confidence, including that their counselling records will not be used in a trial; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35580/26]
View answerThe Government recognises the deep distress caused to victims by the disclosure of counselling notes and is committed to minimising intrusion into their privacy to the greatest extent possible. However, this must be done within the Constitution, which guarantees the right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.
While the issue of a complete ban on counselling notes has been proposed previously, including as part of the Private Members Bill which the Deputy brought forward, the Attorney General has advised that such a blanket ban would be unconstitutional as, in a small number of cases, counselling records may contain material relevant to the defence.
It is in this context that legislation is being brought forward to restrict disclosure to the maximum extent possible, while ensuring independent judicial oversight in all cases.
The Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 provides for the deletion of the waiver provision currently contained in section 19A of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1992, as amended by the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, ensuring that a disclosure hearing will take place in all cases - removing the provision that allows for this vital judicial oversight to be waived.
It amends the current statutory framework to ensure that judicial oversight governs the disclosure of any counselling records, in order to ensure adequate judicial oversight so the rights of victims to privacy are always taken into account. The Bill was debated at Second Stage in Dáil Éireann on 22 January.
I also secured Government approval to bring forward further amendments to the legislation to restrict the disclosure of counselling records as far as possible. This includes amendments to introduce a presumption of non-disclosure, and it is the intention that the same protection regime is applied to other victims’ records containing sensitive personal data, such as medical records, child protection records and other such documents.
These reforms will ensure that any disclosure of sensitive material only occurs where strictly necessary, and always subject to rigorous judicial scrutiny. I would strongly encourage any victim or survivor of DSGBV to avail of all available therapeutic supports available to them should they need to.
