Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the introduction of the Bill. The Labour Party fully supports the legislation and the intentions behind it. We will look to propose some amendments to strengthen and enhance some of the protections for victims as the legislation moves through the Houses of the Oireachtas. In April this year, the CSO released the results of the sexual violence survey, SVS, conducted in 2022. The results were stark. One in five women in Ireland had been raped and more than half of women had experienced some form of sexual violence. Three in ten adults had experienced sexual violence as a child.

It is clear that sexual violence continues to create trauma for far too many victims. Dealing with sexual violence remains one of the greatest challenges we face as a society. The Labour Party strongly supports the Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence 2022-2026. The end goal of the strategy is "zero tolerance of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence". The strategy aims to "ensure significant and ongoing reduction in [the] incidence of DSGBV". As part of that goal, we need to create "changes in behaviour so that Ireland becomes a place where victims and survivors receive integrated quality service supports and [enhanced access to] justice", something which we are all too aware our justice system does not always deliver. Too often, I have heard women, and I made this comment in a debate here last week as well, tell me that the court case was worse than the rape and the abuse.

I hope the Bill will bring us closer to a situation where victims of sexual violence will get better access to justice, victims are protected and the balance between victim and accused is fairer. The legislation will help to improve the process to make the courts more effective in providing justice and less traumatising for victims. Hopefully, this will also make it easier for those who have been raped or sexually assaulted to come forward, help to make undertaking a successful prosecution more likely and help to change our culture to one where consent cannot just be assumed. We want to create a culture where it is normal and widely acknowledged that consent to sexual acts must be negotiated and clearly communicated between sexual partners.

As regards the detail of the Bill, there are six main objectives. The first is to implement the recommendations of the O’Malley review of protections for vulnerable witnesses in the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences. To do this, the Bill will also extend the right to separate legal representation and legal aid to victims in trials for sexual assault. Where there is an application to question them on their previous sexual experience, victims will have their own barristers to represent them during the questioning. This will also help to rectify the appalling situation where victims are left with less protection than the accused and frequently feel like they are the ones on trial. The Bill will ensure anonymity for victims in all trials for sexual offences and provide anonymity for the accused for certain sexual offences. We welcome the fact that the Bill will update the definitions for "publishing" and "broadcasting" of the details of a case and remove the statutory requirement for the verdicts or decisions in trials to be announced in public. All these provisions are a direct result of the O’Malley review.

The second objective is to implement the recommendations from the Law Reform Commission on knowledge or belief concerning consent in rape law. The honest belief defence, as it stands in the Criminal Law (Rape) Act 1981, allows a defendant an unreasonable belief, formed unilaterally, by himself, as a defence for rape. It undermines the need for negotiation and communication implicit in the definition of consent, as no evidence is required of a defendant to back up his belief in consent or that he did not know the act was not consensual. This Bill will mean that where there is non-consensual intercourse, a defence of belief will have to be a reasonable one. It will not just have to be an honest one, but one that is objectively held to be reasonable. This is a key provision to legislating for a culture where consent is at the heart of sexual interaction. I note the draft Bill does not contain provisions related to intoxication or to the accused’s decision-making capacity, as had been outlined in the general scheme. This is something we may need to explore on Committee Stage. I also note from briefings that there has been a recent Supreme Court judgment, which means that the Bill also may need amendment. We will need to ensure that any such amendments will strengthen and not weaken these core provisions of the Bill.

The next objective of the Bill is to put the national referral mechanism, NRM, for victims of human trafficking on a statutory footing. An Garda Síochána is currently solely responsible for identifying victims of human trafficking. Under the new mechanism, multiple other relevant Departments and agencies will be designated as competent authorities to identify victims and this will also allow civil society organisations supporting victims of trafficking to be designated as trusted partners. We will also need to ensure that protections for witnesses and victims in cases of human trafficking are comprehensive and extend beyond just the conduct of a case. There are many complexities to be considered, which we hope to address on Committee Stage to ensure the Bill is as good as it can be.

The next purpose of the legislation is to make it possible to prosecute someone suspected of obtaining or providing a child for the purposes of sexual exploitation where some or all of the offence is committed outside the State. The Bill will allow us to ratify the second optional protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. This ratification is welcome, and even without the need for ratification, I believe the ability to prosecute Irish sexual abusers who offend abroad is to be welcomed in and of itself.

The Bill will also amend the Defence Act 1954. In March 2023, the IRG published a report on dignity and equality issues in the Defence Forces. One of the recommendations was that specified sexual offences should be investigated by An Garda Síochána and prosecuted in civilian courts rather than within the military itself. It is proposed that military law will continue to apply where such offences take place overseas. In view of the recommendation to extend prosecution to offences outside the State for child offences, this may require consideration.

My colleague Senator Wall has been very strong on this point. As others have done, I pay tribute to the Women of Honour.

The other main objective of the Bill is to address the provision of character evidence. Currently, if a witness is called to court to provide character evidence, that evidence is given under oath. However, written testimonies are not sworn. The new provision requires that when a person has been convicted of a sexual offence, character references presented at sentencing must be made via oath or affidavit. This follows on from similar provisions in a Private Members' Bill introduced in the Seanad by Senators Doherty, Chambers and Pauline O’Reilly, who are to be commended.

This Bill is a welcome step. Other speakers have referred to the ongoing barristers' dispute. A sexual assault court case was delayed last May due to the lack of availability of a senior counsel. That dispute must be resolved in order that criminal cases can proceed. There was strong pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, with excellent engagement on the general scheme from the Immigrant Council of Ireland, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Bar of Ireland, the National Women's Council of Ireland and Rape Crisis Network Ireland. The additional sections that have since been added are reasonable and have come through engagement with transparent and worthy sources. We will continue to work to ensure the legislation is as good as it can be. There may be an opportunity to submit amendments that would resolve additional issues where there is an appropriate legislative fit. I commend the Minister of State and his Department on the Bill. I look forward to working with colleagues to improve it.

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