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

I said earlier that I think the level of violence in our society, against women in particular, is at an alarming level. People will say we had it in the past and so on. We have discussed this among other issues. I find it unconscionable, and I cannot understand how people can engage in such violence against fellow human beings on the streets or in any location. However, we have to do a deeper analysis of what is at play in society, and the role of social media and other factors.

As far as I am concerned, however, and as I said earlier, for the Defence Forces the standard should be even higher, because the Defence Forces are meant to protect society and people.

We have established a tribunal of inquiry in respect of issues the Women of Honour raised. To be clear, while I accept what Deputy Connolly is saying, there was resistance to that, and there is still resistance to the concept of cultural change and transformation. When I recently brought legislation before this House, that was manifest and people may have inadvertently, for different reasons, opposed certain aspects of that Bill. It is about culture change, yet a campaign was mounted to undermine it. I was very frustrated at that. The tribunal is up and running, and I ordered a year ago that all sexual assaults must go to the Garda.

See this speech in context