Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will talk about what we can do about this, because I think we are largely in agreement that we need to take action in this area to support victims and ensure the perpetrators receive sentences they should receive. We can work together as parties in two ways. First, there is the Judicial Council Bill 2017, which Deputy McDonald mentioned. It is before the Seanad currently. It proposes to establish a judicial council. Perhaps a judicial council would be the right body to draw up sentencing guidelines rather than Parliament. The Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Charles Flanagan, says that he would be happy to discuss that as part of the debate when that Bill enters this House, so I would encourage that this is done.

I also mentioned the Domestic Violence Bill 2017. This Bill specifically provides that where the victim of a sexual assault was in an intimate relationship with the offender, that will be treated as an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes. If this Bill passes, if somebody who has been subjected to a rape or sexual assault by someone who is known to them, by someone they have an intimate relationship with, that will be seen as an aggravated offence for sentencing purposes. As I say, that Bill has passed through the Seanad. It has passed through Committee Stage. I now appeal to Opposition parties to allow us to get that through Report Stage quickly. Let us have it enacted before the end of next month.

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