LAST UPDATE | 13 Nov

THE OIREACHTAS JUSTICE Committee has recommended a complete and unconditional ban on the use of counselling records in sexual offence trials.

The topic has been the subject of extensive advocacy by campaigners and survivors such as Hazel Beehan who have been calling for an outright ban on the use of a person’s counselling notes as evidence in these cases. 

The recommendation comes as part of the Committee’s report on the General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law Bill 2025 which would change several areas of the law, including the use of counselling notes in sexual offence trials.

The proposed legislation would make it more difficult to use counselling notes as evidence, but a judge would still have the power to ultimately decide if they can be used or not – something the Committee has today advised against.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Committee Cathaoirleach and Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy thanked Hazel Behan for the evidence she shared when discussing the use of counselling notes in sexual offence trials.

He said she is a survivor whose evidence had a “significant impact on the Committee members”.

Other recommendations

In total, the Committee made 17 recommendations to the proposed legislation.

Among the areas identified for further examination include the issue of remote hearings, the use of incapacitant spray in prisons and proposals to allow Gardaí the direction to remove face coverings.

The Committee said prison officers shouldn’t be armed with incapacitant spray, commonly known as pepper spray.

It also recommended that legislation relating to face coverings should be subjected to extensive human rights scrutiny and review.

In particular the review should assess how this provision might affect individuals who wear face coverings for legitimate reasons such as health, religious, cultural and solidarity purposes.

To address sexually exploitative practices in the rental market it recommends extending tenancy protections to those in informal or licensee housing arrangements.

It advises strengthening regulation and moderation by online platforms hosting rental advertisements, clarifying the rights and supports available to licensees, and rolling out a targeted public information campaign to raise awareness.

It also recommended that the legislation included a section requiring that the consent of the accused be secured for each application for a remote hearing. It also said that remote hearings should not be extended to jury trials, and to summary trials involving the potential for imprisonment. 

It recommended that a human rights review of the operation of remote proceedings takes place within a three-year period of commencement of the legislation.

The National Women’s Council has welcomed the recommendation to ban the use of counselling notes, saying it was the result of listening and including survivors’ experiences at different stages of the report. 

“We know it has become standard practice for defence teams to request victim and survivor’s counselling notes in sexual assault trials,” Ivanna Youtchak, Violence Against Women Coordinator at NWC, said.

“As we heard from survivors today, the use of these notes is a severely retraumatising practice for victims and survivors, and it can deter survivors from accessing mental health supports.

“We need the Government to follow the report’s recommendation by legislating that counselling notes can never be considered or used as evidence.”