Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Deputy O'Callaghan on bringing forward this amending legislation. I listened to the debate in my office and it was heartening to hear support from the entirety of the House for the amendment.

This legislation is designed to support and protect the victims of sexual violence through the criminal justice process. The crime statistics published at the beginning of October by the Central Statistics Office reveal the trend of increased incidents of rape and other sexual offences is continuing. Reported incidents of sexual offences were up more than 10% for the second quarter of 2018 when compared with the same period the previous year.

There were reports in the national media at the beginning of the academic year concerning the numbers of students presenting to rape crisis centres and reporting rapes or sexually assaults.

The Irish Examiner, on 25 September, ran a front page story stating that, since the commencement of the academic year, three college students in Cork had reported rapes to the rape crisis centre. Two of those three young women have reportedly dropped out of college. Similar reports appeared in the media about students in Galway, where almost 50 students reported incidents of rape and sexual assault to the rape crisis centre in the past six months alone.

There are many worrying features of these stories and it is high time something was done to address the issues. Despite these statistics, the fact remains that sexual offences are grossly under-reported. Many victims do not make a complaint to An Garda Síochána. Survivors need to be empowered, informed and fairly treated throughout the criminal justice process. This legislation hopes to do something to achieve this. The main provisions of the Bill are that, during an investigation into offences involving sexual violence, gender-based violence or violence in a close relationship, the victim should be provided with relevant information and legal advice. This information will be provided by a solicitor funded by the Minister for Justice and Equality through support networks that already exist. It would help the victim identify the necessary steps and actions he or she would have to take should a complaint proceed to a prosecution on indictment.

The purpose of section 2 is to provide relevant information and legal advice to the victim at an early stage of the investigation and inform him or her of the nature, extent and likely timeline of the investigation and that the victim and others with relevant evidence will have to provide statements to An Garda Síochána. Victims will also be informed that the accused is entitled to disclosure of all relevant documents and evidence in advance of a trial and that victims will be required to give evidence and face cross-examination in respect of alleged offences and the likely timeline for the hearing and determination of any criminal proceedings.

We need to send a clear message that anyone who is a victim of a sexual crime will be listened to and supported throughout the criminal justice process. It is vital that society is clear in its attitude to sexual crime and perhaps then any fear a victim may have about the criminal justice process will be dispelled. This amendment will go a long way towards achieving that.

See this speech in context