Vol. 497 No. 4
34 Ms. O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the plans, if any, he has to improve the resources in Garda stations in order to facilitate identification of suspects in a way that the person identifying the suspect is not visible to the line up, for example, the use of a two way mirror; the obstacle, if any, in relation to the implementation of this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25173/98]
As I informed the Deputy in answer to Question No. 256 on the 11th of this month, the Garda authorities have informed me that the conduct of formal identification parades was the subject of a review by them with the DPP recently. The procedure was updated to allow a witness to identify a suspect by means of pointing to the suspect's position in the parade and stating his or her position or stating the number which has been assigned to the suspect. It is no longer necessary for a witness to approach and place his or her hand on the suspect's shoulder. I am also informed by the Garda authorities that the revised procedure does not provide for identification to be made through two-way mirrors and, accordingly, there are no plans for their introduction.
