Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Labour)

I would be grateful if the Minister of State would call the man from Morocco to her office to outline the palpable outrage of decent people in this country who are ashamed that in a contemporary, allegedly civilised society, courts of justice would provide an escape route for rapists to marry their victims to save face for families for cultural reasons. That form of abuse cannot be provided for in any society. I ask the Minister of State who has responsibility for European affairs to take whatever action is necessary to demonstrate with great ferocity our concern. This was an innocent child who, for reasons beyond our imagination, was forced to marry her rapist, imprisoned for three months in an horrific relationship and beaten consistently and her only way out was to take her own life. I ask the Minister of State to call in the officials attached to the Moroccan mission in Ireland and ask what are the plans to repeal this awful law.

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