Dáil Éireann, on 19 October 2010, and Seanad Éireann, on 20 October 2010, approved, in accordance with Article 29.4.7 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the exercise by the State of the option provided by Article 3.1 of Protocol 21 annexed to the Treaty of Lisbon to notify the President of the Council of the European Union that it wishes to take part in the adoption and application of the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the right to information in criminal proceedings. The President of the Council was notified accordingly on 21 October 2010.
Discussions on the draft Directive are ongoing in the preparatory bodies of the Council. As this is a measure in which the European Parliament is a co-legislator, it would be neither appropriate nor possible for me to say when agreement on the measure will be reached.
A decision on how the Directive will be transposed into Irish law can only be made when the final text is available. However, I can say that preliminary indications are that new primary legislation is unlikely to be required.