Rape complainant treatment report to come before Cabinet

The Cabinet will consider a report on Monday on the treatment of victims of sex crime which was commissioned in the aftermath of the 2018 Belfast rape trial.

Senior counsel and law lecturer Tom O’Malley was asked to carry out a study of the matter in August 2018 by then minister for justice Charlie Flanagan, shortly after rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding were acquitted of raping a woman at a house party in Belfast.

Drastic reforms

The trial led to calls on both sides of the Border for drastic reforms in the treatment of complainants in rape and sexual assault cases. It is understood the report will recommend extensive changes to how such cases are dealt with.

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien is also expected to bring a memo to Cabinet to increase from €2 million to € 6 million the eligibility spending threshold for single-stage approval for local authority social housing.