Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It was an honour and a privilege to be present in Dublin Castle for the final declaration on Saturday and to see the landslide in the marriage equality referendum. I was in the count centre in the RDS early on Saturday morning and, while it became apparent from the first batch of boxes that we were heading for a resounding victory, the sense of occasion only grew in momentum as the day wore on.I have known very few such days in my lifetime. Indeed, I had the lyrics of Nina Simone's 1965 classic - "It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, and I'm feeling good" - going around my head for that entire weekend. Everybody one met around Dublin Castle and Dublin in general did. The result is more than what it says on the tin. It is a definitive reflection of a societal shift that has been developing for some time. The people have spoken and they are saying, "Welcome to 21st-century Ireland, which is open, inclusive, fair and tolerant." I congratulate Yes Equality and all the civil society groups that advocated, campaigned and canvassed to bring about the referendum and to bring about the courage in the Irish people to say "Yes." As a children's rights advocate, I was involved and was delighted to be part of a rallying call at the official launch of the BeLonGTo campaign, the largest coalition of children's and youth organisations supporting a "Yes" vote in the referendum. Well done to them on all their work. That organisation will need support as more and more young people are now having the courage to come forward. I hope we will arrive at a day when we do not need courage. On the issue of courage, I thank my colleague, Senator Katherine Zappone, who had the courage to take the Government to the Supreme Court, and Senator David Norris, who had and continues to have courage on the issue of ensuring equality. Particular mention should be made in this House of Senators Averil Power and Ivana Bacik, who played a very strong role. Well done to all of us who played our individual parts.

I want to raise the issue of direct provision and the increase in the momentum for change. On 7 May, the Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions produced a report stating that the direct provision system must be made subject to the Ombudsman for Children and the Freedom of Information Acts. On 22 May, the Ombudsman for Children's report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, which will be looked at the week after next, raised specific concerns about mental health services for children in direct provision. Yesterday, HIQA published the report of its inspection of child protection and welfare services for children living in direct provision centres. We heard very startling reports. Today, at the ISPCC inaugural lecture, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly, talked about the cultural norm we must have of protecting all children. We have, in a way, accepted that these children are treated differently. In this era of equality, we need to say it is no longer good enough. Given this focus on direct provision - I know we have a cross-party group and our group of nominees has put forward many motions on the issue - I ask the Leader to seek a commitment from the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, and the Minister of State, Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, to introduce the working group report on improvements to the protection process, including direct provision and supports to asylum seekers, into the Seanad for debate, given our cross-party work on this issue. We have to have it soon and we must take urgent action. There are children at risk in direct provision in Ireland.