Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First of all, there have been exhaustive discussions. We have had a number of meetings and correspondence with the Women of Honour and other groups. The Attorney General has met with the legal advisers to Women of Honour. We have gone through a lot of stuff in detail. The fundamental recommendation of the IRG has been met by the draft terms of reference and we have sought to go through all of the issues. The discretion of the judge is always there. I was surprised - and Deputy Cronin made the point - with the public statement that was issued following the last letter that I wrote to the Women of Honour, because I do not think it was fair. There was some assertion that we were equating trips and falls with sexual assault, which is actually the opposite of what were saying. To prioritise sexual harassment and bullying, it needs to be investigated. Dignity needs to be investigated. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act covers everything in the workplace. If we put that specifically in the terms of reference, it will have implications for the length of time of the tribunal. There is no point in saying otherwise. We have to be honest about that. We have gone through this in detail and we will go through it again. We will have a further meeting. Likewise, we discussed that issue as well.

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