Mark Dearey (Green Party)

I join Senator Hannigan in asking the Leader to call the Minister to the House to deal in a forthright and final way with the redress that these 35 women deserve. They were savagely treated by Michael Neary. It is incumbent on us to address the issue, even at this late stage. I was in contact with one woman who was three days outside the deadline for the scheme and has been denied justice and redress. Many harrowing stories remain to be told from among the 35 women. This is not a view shared just by Senator Hannigan and me; it is shared across the House. Others, including Senators O'Reilly, O'Brien, Wilson, Glynn and Carroll, have offered cross-party support for the call for this debate to take place at the soonest possible opportunity such that we can, by one method or another, provide the redress in a non-adversarial way, either through an extension of the scheme or a process via the State Claims Agency. This is something with which we must deal as a matter of urgency. It was addressed in the Dáil on an all-party basis last week and I am satisfied the Seanad is mirroring that action in the Dáil last week, but, I hope, with a more constructive response from the Minister.