Áine Collins (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will begin by saying a few words about Maíria Cahill as a woman. I admire her hugely for her courage in bringing her horrific personal experience into the public domain. It is probably much easier to stay silent on an issue like this. It takes great determination, courage and fight to highlight such an experience. For any person to have to go through this once would be one occasion too many. Not only did Maíria Cahill suffer at the hands of her abuser, but she also had to face him in front of people as a very young woman. Now she has to deal with this matter again in the public domain to bring to public attention her human concern about the fact that her abuser and the other abusers she is talking about are still out there. As far as we know, they have never been dealt with properly.

We have heard a great deal of rhetoric about whether this is a political issue. It has been suggested that it is being used by other parties to bring it into the political domain. It is certainly a wonderful example of why politics should not be led by opinion polls. It seems from what we are seeing in the opinion polls that this is not bothering the people. The humane and right thing to do here is to deal with this issue. Sex offenders need to be registered as sex offenders. If they are in the Republic, or even anywhere in the country, we need to know about them. They also need help and they need to be dealt with in that light.

It was very tragic last week to see the leader of Sinn Féin joking at a dinner in New York about terrorist attacks on newspaper editors. News editors globally have condemned this behaviour. It has been said here previously that if the leader of any other political party had said what has been said by Deputy Adams in his blog and by others, they would have had to resign. It is up to Sinn Féin to decide on that. It beggars belief that Maíria Cahill has not received an apology. It is unbelievable that she has to go through this again. In light of the concern we have expressed about the protection of children, which is a human concern for all of us, I ask again for people who know where these sex offenders are living to contact the relevant authorities, even at this late stage. If they are living in the Republic, and certainly in Cork North-West, I want to know. These sex offenders should be on the register so they can be dealt with and Irish children can be protected, which is our duty as politicians.

It is a shocking state of affairs that women must relive this time and again. I ask that Sinn Féin deal with the issue in the way it should be dealt, that being, openly, by telling it as it is and by apologising to this woman in order that she might have peace and get on with the rest of her life. What she has been through already is far too much.

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