Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome everybody back for the new year.

I would like the Leader to invite the Minister for Justice and Equality to the House. He has many portfolios but we need his wisdom on what happened yesterday in respect of his justice portfolio. I refer to what justice, when tested, means for victims, including women and children. Why is the conviction rate for rape and child abuse in Ireland as low as 5%? This is not acceptable. On 3 March 2012, along with others, I raised in the House the issue of the fairness and proportionality of sentences, referring again to the issue of rape. Let us do the woman associated with yesterday's case the honour of having a debate on this issue.

Senator O'Brien said something that may be deserving of merit, namely, that there may be a need for some type of independent committee on sentencing. We cannot let women or children be treated this way. We have just held a referendum on children in which the nation said every child matters. I do not believe there has been justice. I am not commenting on the case in question. Let us change the circumstances that obtain; that is our job.