Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)

I welcome the Victims of Sexual Violence Civil Protection Orders Bill 2025, which as others have said, aims to ensure a person subjected to sexual violence can be granted a civil protection order where an offence has been found to have been committed under criminal or common law. It is one step, as Deputy Carthy said, but it is an important step in adding to the legal protections available. It is separate to the existing civil restraining orders or section 28 orders we have and ties in with measures to stop someone convicted from harassing, threatening, or violent behaviour against another person rather than the burden of proof being placed on the person assaulted, including, as was mentioned earlier, the woman Deputy Carthy referred to who was recommended to seek a barring order.

It is really pathetic the way the justice system stands right now, whether it is before or after the often-inadequate sentencing. This Bill is complementary to the Minister’s equally welcome criminal law (sexual offences, domestic violence and international instruments) Bill which, when finally enacted, will incorporate Jennie’s law, which is something I and others have called for over a period of time. It will create the new publicly-accessible domestic violence register of judgments managed by the Courts Service, strengthen the law on sexual consent and replace the term "child pornography" with the more apt "child sexual abuse material", and include other measures for those convicted of domestic violence against their partner or former partner being publicly named on this register. I suggest the Bill before the House granting a civil protection order will act as a further deterrent, so I hope the Government adopts this Bill. I note the Minister said he was not opposing its passage to the next Stage but suggested it was in some way superfluous, so at the very least I hope it is integrated into planned legislation.

This obviously raises questions about when precisely this unopposed Bill or the Bill the Minister put forward earlier in the year will be enacted and how they are going to be resourced because it is not the first time we have had discussions about the societal problem of violence, and in particular sexual violence, against women. I wish this would be the last debate but we all know there is a body of work to do, from the legal barriers to the lack of resources for supports and ingrained misogyny that goes all the way down from fully-grown men to what I have previously described – and I hate giving that piece of excrement any publicity – as the Andrew Tate-ification of our boys as early as primary school. The damage on social media is all-pervading, it is breeding the next generation of violent offenders and we need to do something about it. I hope the Minister will look at proposals I and others have made on mirroring the Australian model of a ban on social media for under-16s.

Just tonight I had a constituent who is a former school principal contact me. He said violence against women is out of control. He said that if that many women suffered due to a faulty kettle or faulty TV there would be a major recall investigation. He said the injuries and threats of violence are nuts. He said if women carried out that many attacks the country would close down and we would be in a lockdown. He asked if there is a rage now in society and whether it is it okay now that it has been normalised. He asked me to please share with the Minister that we need to sort this and said there should be no blaming anything other than men.

This ties in with the Cuan Corporate Plan 2025–2027 which points out 40% of adults have experienced sexual violence at least once in their lifetime, with 52% of these being women, who are disproportionately affected by sexual violence compared with 28% of men. Furthermore, 68% of younger women aged 18 to 24 have reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime, which is absolutely shocking. The Minister said it is an international problem and it is, but we are legislators in Ireland and it is an embarrassment to us as a country. The development of the corporate plan is welcome too but let us see what the outcomes are because the initial report says it is being guided by a legislative framework. I am sick of hearing about "the four key pillars set out in the Zero Tolerance strategy which are grounded in the Istanbul Convention: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Policy Coordination". We have heard it a lot. If I had €10 for every time I heard about the Istanbul Convention I would be a millionaire. They are all laudable and worthy but they have been talked about to death.

In an Irish context we need to look holistically at proper collaboration between Government Departments, statutory bodies and agencies and obviously society as a whole because we have been poor at bringing things together. We have heard this about the housing crisis, public transport, energy self-sufficiency and also this hugely important issue. Can we bring the protections we are talking about together? Can we train the professionals properly? Where is the evidence each area will be followed up so lives will be saved and people protected? We need more than prosecution after the event. We need more than refuges even though we need a lot more refuges. There is only a short time left for action until we get to the next strategy. All we know is we have promised legislation and also legislation not promised, such as on the issue of therapy or counselling notes, as Deputy Coppinger referenced, and a commitment to have "a review of the current strategy's implementation to inform the development of the fourth national domestic sexual and gender based violence policy strategy 2027 to 2030." We have the third one right now so is it not time we focused less on strategy and review and more on actual implementation? As I said, this Bill, like others, is welcome and needed but I hope we can ensure legislation has teeth. All victims and survivors of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence deserve this, especially women and girls, including the campaigners here in the Gallery who have all been let down far too much and for far too long.

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