Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

For me, this was a very important matter. I hold very strongly to the view that, for those women and families I have met from the newcomer communities who have found a home in our country in recent years, there is no age of maturity as we would understand it. That age was once 21 years and is now 18 years. It is when young women go through a passage to adulthood, something they can assert very strongly in Irish cultural terms. This is not replicated in these other cultures because it is not the reality. The attainment of the 18th birthday does not offer any, let alone sufficient, protection for the young woman or others of her family who wish to defend her against the pressures that have been applied in so many cases, compelling women to subject themselves to female genital mutilation.

By allowing subsection 2(d) to stand, we are undermining the essence and message of the Bill. An earlier speaker was right. This Bill will not necessarily, of itself, protect women in all cases but it certainly signals a weakness in that we do not apply the message to women on the attainment of their 18th birthdays. This is a significant failing. I regret the Minister did not take up my proposition on Committee Stage to come back with an amendment of his own. I note there are no amendments from the Minister in spite of the fact that we pressed ours well and, I believe, explained them well. They were not views of our own construction only but were reflective of people with whom we have engaged, a number of whom were present in the Visitors' Gallery on Committee Stage.

This is a very important matter. For me, it is one of the key elements in the Bill and I feel strongly enough about it to take the same course today as I have done previously. Again, I appeal to the Minister to recognise that other legislation in terms of criminal acts does not join with this legislation in giving a clear and unequivocal statement to all who may be considering involvement in this heinous practice. They need to be told very clearly that women of any age should not, and cannot, be subjected to FGM in this country, whether they are citizens of this country or resident in it long term.

See this speech in context