Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I heard that from Mr. Eamonn McCormack and I thank the Leader, who is also interested in that area. I was prompted to raise it again when Senator Quinn yesterday expressed his concern and sorrow at the death of that lovely, young Latvian woman, Ms Baiba Saulite, in north Dublin. He said after it had been mentioned once in the House, it would be forgotten. That was incorrect, and I am sure Senator Quinn was not castigating us for that. Her death will not be forgotten. It will continue to upset me that she and 124 other women were murdered in the past ten years. Last September we all received a booklet from Women's Aid informing us about the campaign that will take place over the next two weeks to highlight domestic abuse. According to the booklet, 123 women have been murdered in the past ten years. That number is now 125. Two more were murdered since September, that Latvian woman being the most recent. These women suffer the final blow and die. Many thousands of women suffer silently and some of them will eventually be murdered. We are not coming to grips with it. We could link that with the level of serious crime, where life means nothing, where somebody can walk up with his face uncovered and shoot a woman in her home. What has this country come to?