I refer the Deputy to my answer of 25 July 1996 to Parliamentary Question No. 608.
As I stated at that time, I have been informed by the Garda authorities that under the guidelines governing the holding of identification parades there is no requirement for a witness to place his or her hand on a suspect and that it is sufficient for the witness to clearly point out the person being identified. It is also the case that the Supreme Court has stated that there is no rule of law or practice that requires visual identification in all cases to be by means of an identification parade: each case must be considered on its facts.
The overriding consideration in any identification procedure is to exclude any suspicion of unfairness or the risk of erroneous identification and to make sure the ability of the witness to recognise the suspect has been fairly and adequately tested. The inherent fairness or otherwise of the procedure followed at the identification parade is among the matters which can be questioned by the defence in the course of any subsequent trial.
Clearly complex issues arise and any changes in existing procedures could only take place after very detailed consideration. While I understand that the Garda authorities envisage difficulties arising in relation to the proposal in the Deputy's question, I shall keep the question of changes in this area generally under review.
