FG urges support for victims' Bill

Fine Gael has today urged the Government to support its Victims’ Rights Bill that will be debated and voted on in the Dáil tonight.

In the Dáil yesterday, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern and Fine Gael children’s spokesman Alan Shatter clashed over their respective proposals for victims’ rights.

Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern said there was no such thing as as a single transferable Bill between jurisdictions.

The Minister charged that the Fine Gael plan was “in essence a replications of New Zealand’s Victims’ Rights Act 2002” and added that there was no such thing as as a single transferable Bill between jurisdictions.

The Fine Gael spokesman responded that Mr Ahern was engaging in “the worst kind of petty and small-minded politics”.

Fine Gael today claimed there was massive support for its Bill. It said a survey, conducted on its website with 400 respondents, found that 86 per cent of victims were not offered enough support and information by the State.

Among respondents, 91 per cent said the DPP should provide victims with an explanation for not prosecuting; 75 per cent said victims of crime should have the right to make an impact statement, and of the 42 per cent who said they had been a victim of crime, 80 per cent said the crime had not been prosecuted.

Mr Shatter added: "This survey shows there is overwhelming demand from victims for the State to provide more information and support at every stage of the criminal justice process."

A row broke out in the Dáil last week after Mr Ahern was absent while announcing his own victims' rights proposals at a press conference. The Minister was forced into the Dáil to renew anti-terrorism legislation amid uproar as the House was suspended three times due of his absence.