The Order of Business is No. 1, address to the Seanad by MEPs representing the European Parliament Midlands-North-West constituency, to be taken at 2.30 p.m. in accordance with arrangements set out in the motion passed by the Seanad on Tuesday, 21 September 2021; No. 2, Child and Family Agency (Amendment) Bill 2021 - Order for Second Stage and Second Stage, to be taken at 5 p.m. and to adjourn at 6.30 p.m., if not previously concluded, with the time allocated to the Minister's opening speech not to exceed ten minut…

I thank all Members who contributed. Senator Seery Kearney started off the day by mentioning the ESRI report on the employment rates of people with disabilities. She was joined by Senators McGreehan, Ardagh and Conway in rasing that important issue. It is a worrying statistic that we are the fourth worst country in terms of people with disabilities accessing meaningful employment. We have a job of work to do today. The Indecon report commissioned by Senator Doherty when she was the Minister for Employment Affairs a…

I welcome our MEPs, Ms Walsh and Mr. Markey, to the Chamber. This is an exciting day for us as a House as well because it marks the beginning of a new initiative by the Cathaoirleach to foster a greater connection with the European Parliament. It is our first opportunity to have MEPs in the Chamber. They represent my constituency of Midlands-North-West, so it is great to have them both here. I look forward to greater engagement over the period ahead. Both our guests touched on some interesting aspects. I agree with…

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time." I am pleased to propose this Bill.

Sorry, I am sharing time with Senator Fitzpatrick.

I am pleased also to be here this evening, with the support of my Fianna Fáil colleagues, to move this Bill during Fianna Fáil Private Members' time. As Members will be aware, the Bill seeks to introduce a stand-alone offence of stalking into Irish law which is characterised by repeated, unwanted behaviour that occurs as a result of fixation or obsession and causes alarm, distress or harm to the victim. This offence, in this Bill, would carry a maximum sentence of ten years' imprisonment. Earlier this year, two ver…

I appreciate the response the Minister of State has delivered on behalf of the Minister for Justice and take note of what he said. I received his comments as he was speaking, so if it is okay with him, I will pick through a few of the issues he raised and give him my response to those. The Minister of State said "the Government appreciates the seriousness of the crime of stalking" but today, there is no crime of stalking. It does not actually exist. He then went on to describe in great detail what stalking actually…

It says a lot, in my view. The Minister of State also referred to the case of the DPP v. Doherty, where Mr. Justice Peter Charleton in his 2020 judgment stated, "Harassment was made an offence by s 10 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997." That is a fact. The judgment went on to state, "Before that time, those whose lives were affected by harassment, or as it is commonly called stalking". That is used then as evidence to say that the terms are interchangeable. That is the opinion of one person - a …

-----and we want to make that view very strongly here today. Again, this is a very serious allegation that I really do not think should have been made on the floor of this House. I am not taking umbrage with the Minister of State. I know he is reading this out on behalf of the Minister for Justice. He said, "There was also concern that legislating specifically for stalking could cast doubt over previous convictions for stalking behaviour under the harassment offence." That is an incredibly serious assertion to make…

-----and one I strongly disagree with. That, to me, is undermining the Judiciary on the floor of this House. It is seeking to undermine all those cases that have been prosecuted to date because of the failure of the Department of Justice to act on a five-year-old recommendation and a law that is already in place in other jurisdictions which we commonly followed for more than a decade. I suggest the Department and the Minister for Justice should reflect upon that particular sentence. It should be retracted, in my vi…

Next Tuesday.

Tomorrow at 10 a.m. I am sorry; next Tuesday at 2.30 p.m.

I am sharing time with Senator O'Loughlin. We will take two minutes each. The issue I want to raise relates to the documentary "Women of Honour" broadcast on RTÉ's "Saturday with Katie Hannon" programme a couple of weeks ago. It was with shock and horror that we listened to the accounts of the women involved. They were former serving members of the Irish Defence Forces. They spoke about horrific ordeals including sexual assaults, discrimination, rapes and many other injustices they suffered when they were serving m…

I very much welcome the fact there will be a meeting this week. Ultimately, those involved in "Women of Honour" will decide whether they are happy with the terms of reference and the review group that has been set up. We will take our lead from them, as I hope the Minister will as well. It is important to note that while the vast majority of the defence community love the organisation, they are disgusted and appalled by what they have heard, and they stand with those women, including all the representative organisa…

It is great to be back in the Chamber and to have our home reinstated. I have raised this first issue on many occasions with the Leader and with colleagues in this House, which is the maternity restrictions that still exist in our 19 maternity hospitals and units throughout the country. I thank the Leader for taking the initiative in bringing together an all-party Oireachtas group of female Members to try to bring this matter to a resolution and to advocate on behalf of women and their partners throughout the count…

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I congratulate Senator Ruane on bringing the debate to the House. It is important that we have this conversation. Many of the points I was going to make were made by Senator Wall. Having the conversation when a student reaches third level is probably a little late and we have a big job to do. The issue is getting worse. There is far more aggression now than there ever was. One of the challenges we face relates to that level of complacency, whereby we think we have achieved eve…

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business, to move No. 18 before No. 71, motion 7 on the Order Paper. I concur with the Cathaoirleach's remarks in regard to the passing of former Fianna Fáil Minister of State and Teachta Dála, Dr. Seán McCarthy. On behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party, I extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and community and I wish them well in this very difficult time for them. I want to raise two points this morning. The first point relates to the survey by the Irish League of Cr…

Yes.

That was significant latitude.

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for a specific offence of stalking characterised by repeated, unwanted behaviour that occurs as a result of fixation or obsession and causes alarm, distress or harm to the victim and to provide for related matters.