Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join others in welcoming the legislation introduced by the Minister for Justice and Equality. It is badly needed to make the public feel more secure in their homes. It is an issue I have encountered on many occasions, especially among elderly people who do not necessarily feel in any way safe in their homes when there are repeat offenders, such as those who have been mentioned, burgling homes regularly. I am glad to see this legislation will deal with that in a particular way.

I was disgusted by the blatant sexist abuse the Minister for Education, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, was subjected to on the "We Won't Pay the Water Tax - Limerick" Facebook page recently. The person who published the post also expressed a wish to throw her under a bus and there has been an alarming rise in the sexist online abuse several female politicians have been subjected to in recent times, including Senators Higgins and O'Donnell and myself, and probably others. I recently had a threat of sexual violence made against me. We are living in a society that rightly abhors racist abuse, online or otherwise. The same level of abhorrence must be fostered against online sexist abuse against female politicians, which has risen exponentially in recent months. A debate in this area, not just on sexist abuse against women online but also online abuse in general, would be useful.