Ms Deirdre Donnelly:

I thank, first of all, my fellow councillors. Some really interesting points have been made. I was a member of the assembly on the directly elected mayor and I know Councillor Saul made some great points and summed up the situation. I will not go any further in that regard.

I appreciate the kind comments of Senators. I will go back to some of the points made by Senator Black. My issue with duty of care is that if a member of the staff of my council turns up at a conference and something happens, whether it is an injury, an assault or whatever else, he or she is covered and looked after. Who pays if, as happened in my council recently, a stone is thrown through a councillor's window if he or she does not agree with some people on an issue in the area? I have had medical bills and still go to counselling. Who is going to say that public representatives are not going to be able to continue if this is what they are up against?

Senator Joe O'Reilly mentioned social media. There needs to be one consistent way in which the Garda deals with complaints. We are talking about new legislation being introduced in respect of the harassment of public representatives. If someone receives explicit material online, the same process should apply throughout the country. Two high profile women representatives have over the past year or two had horrific experiences. Both offenders were brought to court and my understanding is that they received suspended sentences. What is the point if they are going to get away with it? We need to send out a message in that regard.

I agree with Councillor Tuffy that some women leave for personal reasons. It is great that women get elected and serve time on a council even if they are not there forever. However, I know that people are leaving because of safety issues. Weirdos online is one thing, and I have had abuse from such people, but I must say that more than the injuries, it was an embarrassing situation for me, as an elected member, to have another elected member behaving that way in front of other councillors. Looking at the CCTV footage afterwards, a councillor was laughing and thought it was funny while others turned away.

That was in front of people. This is what I am talking about. We need a code of conduct to tackle this type of misogyny.

Senator Black mentioned SIPO. I have gone through the code of conduct on several occasions. I think we are all obliged to read it as councillors. It is great it is there in relation to conflicts and ethics regarding business dealings a councillor may have in respect of where council contracts are going out to tender, political donations and getting the declaration signed every year. SIPO plays a great role in ensuring there are ethics and standards within the political system but there is nothing there in relation to misconduct, as in respect of sexual misconduct or harassment.

I will give an example. Councillors are in trouble if we do not return our declarations in time. We would be in trouble, and probably named and shamed, if there were to be any slight conflict of interest with ourselves or a family member or perhaps something regarding a company or a contract going out to tender in your council and you did not declare it. If councillors assault or harass someone, though, they can continue to do what they are doing with absolute impunity. There seems to be no process now for dealing with this issue. I ask everyone here at the committee to consider what I am saying and I am perfectly prepared to talk to people individually or to send them more documentation. I again thank everyone for this session today.