Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Tá fáilte romhat. I am afraid I do not speak Luxembourgish but I thank her for speaking Irish in the Chamber. It is an honour to have her here and I welcome Deputy O'Reilly, the leader of the Irish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

It is very good to hear about the work being done by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In Ireland, we are all much more familiar with the work of the European Court of Human Rights. Senator van Turnhout and others have mentioned some of the significant cases that have been taken to the European Court of Human Rights by Irish citizens which have had a huge impact on our society - a positive impact - such as Senator Norris's case which was acknowledged.

The court also ruled on the case of Louise O'Keeffe in January. The case has been hugely important in terms of establishing the need to ensure that there are adequate remedies available for those who were victims of sexual abuse as children in schools. That case has had an important impact in Ireland too.

Ms Brasseur mentioned the A, B and C case which has also had a major impact here. The hearings she mentioned were held in this Chamber and were widely commended as an exemplary model of a pre-legislative stage for drafting Bills.

I pay tribute to the work that she has done within the legislative wing of the Parliamentary Assembly which she spoke about. She also referred to the positive steps that have been taken regarding Ukraine.

Senator van Turnhout spoke about Ms Brasseur's work on children's rights. I am interested in some of the work being done on equality issues, particularly the announcement this month by the Parliamentary Assembly of the launch of the No Hate Parliamentary Alliance. Senator Quinn mentioned the rise of extremism across Europe. I note that Ms Brasseur spoke about the need to launch a No Hate Parliamentary Alliance to commit parliamentarians to taking an open, firm and proactive stands against racism, hatred and intolerance. She also stressed the crucial role played by politicians in combating hate speech, particularly at a time of economic and financial crises because such crises offer fertile grounds for a climate that distils hate. That is a very good example of the sort of positive work that the Parliamentary Assembly can do and is doing. I thank her to coming here and telling us about that.