Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the work done by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre over many decades in providing help, support, advice and counselling to women in very distressed situations who have often been brutalised and may have been thrown out of their homes, raped or both and may be pregnant.

That should be acknowledged at the outset.

The question I want to raise relates to the under-reporting of rape and how we can get to deal with it in a way is going to change the attitude. For example, let us consider a minor being the victim of rape. To my mind, there should not be any failure to report in that kind of situation. Whether it means better education in schools or for parents or whatever, we need to do that as a matter of urgency. This is because of the tendency to minimise the act if we allow it to continue the way it is.

My next question relates to a rape victim being pregnant. If there is no reporting, we cannot do much about it. The witnesses have referred to advice and so on, but it should be possible not to force the victim to continue with a pregnancy and not to force her not to continue. There should be some degree of negotiation or discussion with her.

My last question is for Mr. Tom O'Malley. Is there reluctance by the authorities to take up cases of rape? I imagine this applies to other committee members as well, but I have put down Dáil questions on numerous occasions asking whether a given line of action was going to be taken in particular circumstances. Usually, this arises from the mothers of the victims, who have raised the question and are inquiring as to whether there was likely to be a prosecution or whatever.

My next point relating to prosecution is important. When a case goes to court, is the questioning of the victim not too strenuous? In some cases the victim may be young or inexperienced. She may have moderate special needs or may feel completely at sea under the degree of cross-examination applied. That may leave the victim virtually admitting in some cases that she was the cause of it.