David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister for Health to the House. He may be aware that in recent days a plethora of health issues have been discussed here and that there have been requests for him to attend the House. We will welcome the opportunity to discuss these matters with him in due course and hopefully he will be a frequent visitor to the Seanad.

I commend Senator Bacik for her work on this Bill which, as she said earlier, has cross-party support. It certainly has the full support of Sinn Féin and will not be amended by us. Our spokesperson on health in the Dáil, Deputy Ó Caoláin, has consistently called for such legislation to be introduced. We welcome the fact that Senator Bacik and her Labour Party colleagues have introduced the Bill, which is also supported by Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Independent groupings.

The Minister has made some interesting points and rightly refers to FGM as a gross violation of women's rights and human rights generally. That is an important statement to make. He also said that the act will not be tolerated. There are gaps in the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act, which could allow people to offer a defence of consent, as one option. There are also concerns about the extra-territorial effect of the current Act, so I welcome sections 3 and 4 which deal with FGM acts committed outside the State. I am glad the Bill will attempt to fill many of the legislative voids that have existed heretofore.

The legislation will help many families that may be affected by FGM. It should be stated that most immigrants are law-abiding people and there are many in such communities who do not want their family members, including daughters, to be subjected to these acts. If we enact this Bill, thus making FGM illegal, it will give families who may come under peer pressure within their communities greater weight to say that they do not want the FGM procedure to be carried out. In addition, people will know that they could go to jail for 14 years if they allow such an act to take place. The legislation is therefore important in giving moral support and a legal imperative to such families.

Many health problems and psychological issues flow from carrying out female genital mutilation. According to AkiDwA's statistics, over 3,000 women and girls have been subjected to FGM and I understand that the figure has been revised upwards since last year. The vast majority of those who will be affected by FGM are medical card holders who may be subjected to long delays before getting the necessary treatment. The Minister should reflect on that problem.

Senator Colm Burke spoke about addressing the cultural aspects of FGM. While we must have the necessary laws in place, we also need to win the hearts and minds of communities whose members believe that FGM is acceptable. I have worked with immigrants and I am unhappy with the direct provision system in this State whereby many young women are corralled into reception centres and are thus very much out of sight and out of mind. On three occasions, as a public representative, I was refused entry to one reception centre in Waterford because it was a private facility. My request was only to deal with routine matters in that facility. Many, if not most, of the women affected by these serious issues live in such reception centres. In addition, many advocacy groups that wish to work with and support such women are horrified by the way in which immigrants are treated by the direct provision system.

I have a high regard for the current Minister for Health and I know he will bring a different perspective to the job. He has a difficult task, given what has gone before so I will give him my full support in terms of what has to be done. The Minister and his Government colleagues, however, should be conscious not just of how we treat Irish people but also how new Irish immigrants are treated, particularly with regard to their health requirements. They have particular health needs and we cannot isolate their living environment in this context. If we are to win the hearts and minds of immigrant communities, those issues must be addressed.

I commend the Bill, which has the full support of Sinn Féin. I commend the Minister for supporting the legislation, as well as Senator Bacik for introducing it in the first place.