Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator O'Brien's comments on Maíria Cahill and the way in which Sinn Féin has been dealing with the statements made by her. I have been given a dossier on the Áine Tyrell case, information about which is in the public domain following the trial and conviction of Liam Adams last year. That case raises disturbing questions about more than one situation in which there appears to have been a cover up of sex abuse allegations and a moving on of perpetrators of sexual abuse. As Senator O'Brien has said, we have seen that happen within other institutions, particularly the Catholic Church and certain religious orders and it is very disturbing to see it happen within any political party. Public scrutiny and being open to such scrutiny is an essential part of democratisation. That is an important point for all political parties. They must be open to public scrutiny and members of political parties must feel free to express dissatisfaction with their party leadership if they so feel. All of us who are in parties - with the exception of the members of Sinn Féin - can express our dissatisfaction openly. I will say no more on that issue.

I thank colleagues from both sides of the House who attended the briefing I organised yesterday with SafeIreland, which launched its ManUp campaign against domestic violence this week. We were delighted to have Lynn Rosenthal in Leinster House yesterday as a guest of SafeIreland. She is the White House adviser on violence against women and works with Joe Biden, the Vice President. She is an inspirational women and it was very instructive to hear from her about campaigns against domestic and sexual violence in the US.

I also commend Senator Power on her motion on Palestine. I did not get a chance to do so yesterday. I am very glad that we had the opportunity in the House to express support for that motion which seeks recognition for Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution, which is an important plank of Irish Government's foreign policy in respect of the Middle East. I am also glad that we will have a debate with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Flanagan, who will give us an update on the situation in Palestine and the Middle East on 26 November.

On 5 November we will have a debate on a number of criminal justice matters, including two criminal justice Bills which will be back before the House. I look forward, during that debate, to raising some of the issues which were raised at an excellent conference I attended on 13 October organised by SECILE - Securing Europe through Counter-terrorism - Impact, Legitimacy, Effectiveness. SECILE is a really important coalition of academics and practitioners in criminal justice who specifically work on counter-terrorism matters. They raised a number of important points at that conference about the way in which we legislate to deal with counter-terrorism matters. The insights I learned at that conference will be of great use during the forthcoming debate on criminal justice, mutual assistance and anti-terrorism legislation on 5 November.

Finally I wish to put in a plug for the Labour Party's Private Member's motion to be debated on 5 November on a criminal justice matter, specifically on penal reform. The motion asks the Minister for Justice and Equality to outline her response to the recent papers produced by the expert group and the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality on penal reform. I look forward to the Minister updating the House on developments, many of which are very positive, in the field of penal reform and on her proposals for future change.