A PROTEST WAS held outside Leinster House today to push for an outright ban on the use of a person’s counselling notes as evidence in sexual assault court cases. 

It was organised to coincide with the Oireachtas Justice Committee’s session for pre-legislative scrutiny of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, which, among other things, proposes to make it more difficult to use counselling notes as evidence. 

However, a judge will still have the power to ultimately decide if they can be used or not.

Campaigners and survivors of sexual abuse have called for the government to go further and ban the practice outright.

This afternoon, Hazel Behan will be the sole survivor to speak at today’s meeting.

She will address the committee for less than five minutes, a speaking slot which TD Ruth Coppinger has said is “completely insufficient and unfair”. 

“It is clear in my view that this issue needs further scrutiny,” Coppinger said as she called for further sessions to be organised to examine this aspect of the bill and to bring in the voices of more survivors and counsellors. 

Speaking to reporters outside Leinster House ahead of her appearance, Behan said survivors have been silenced for too long.

“We will continue to be silenced by the proposed changes by government. What happens in a therapy room with me and my therapist is none of your business. I said this before, and I will say it again and again.

“What I say to my counsellor is none of your business, and it’s certainly none of the business of the person who I believe harmed me,” she said.

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She called for the government to introduce a complete ban on the use of a victim’s counselling notes in court.

Also speaking outside Leinster House today, counselling therapist Barbara Kelly said therapists in Ireland have united and want a ban on this practice. 

“I just can’t believe that we’re standing here again, having this same campaign over and over… What else do we have to do? To show Jim O’Callaghan and this government that we want a complete ban, not amendments. They fall way too short.

“We want a complete ban and we want it now,” Kelly said.