Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Catherine Ardagh for raising the issue of domestic violence and agree with her comments. I also commend the Safe Ireland summit, a very strong gathering of people who refocused the view of domestic violence as being a women's problem to being a societal problem. The summit demonstrated that domestic violence is a problem for society as a whole and that it will take an all-of-society approach to tackle it.

I concur with Senator Ardagh's points on that issue and ask the Leader to schedule a debate on the matter with particular reference to the Istanbul Convention, the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combatting violence against women and domestic violence, its ratification and the provisions and measures to be put in place under the terms of the convention. I also understand that new domestic violence legislation is in play and it would be useful for this House to have a real and high profile debate on the issue during which we can discuss our concerns more deeply.

We have had some debate on the recent election in the United States of America which I am not going to reprise now. However, there are some issues which we may need to tease out, particularly with regard to those who did not vote. There has been considerable focus on those who voted in different ways in the election but a vast number of people, well over 40% of the electorate, did not vote. That is where we see disaffection and people pulling away from the political system. This is a concern for all of us in Europe as well. We should debate the wider question of encouraging political engagement and rebuilding connections with those who feel that they have no candidate for whom to vote.

That said, I want to speak more to policies, which is our focus in this House. I have deep concerns about racism. We have seen both misogyny and racism growing across America. We have seen a rise in racist attacks since the election, much as we saw in the UK following the Brexit referendum. There is an issue when the political class sends out signals that allow for racial hatred to gain traction. We have seen the appointment of somebody who has been recognised as a white supremacist, namely, the chief strategist who has been appointed to the President-elect's incoming cabinet. This is an individual who has a strong record in white nationalism and whose appointment has been described by the Ku Klux Klan as "amazing". Indeed, the Ku Klux Klan is planning to hold an open and celebratory parade to mark the outcome of the election.

These are issues of concern for us. In Ireland, nationalism and racism have occasionally reared their heads. However, I am pleased to say that thanks to the wisdom of the Irish people, they have not gained traction here. Deep racism has not gained traction in any of the political parties in this country. We have seen it emerging again this week in yet another attempt to gain political credibility for positions of hatred. The wisdom of the Irish people has ensured that such views have not gained traction but as parliamentarians we have a role to play in sending out very strong signals of inclusion, equality and anti-racism.

Climate change is another area of huge concern. The President-elect has appointed individuals who do not believe in climate change to US environmental agencies. One year on from the Paris Agreement, which the world signed together, the nations of the world have gathered again to debate climate change. There have been very strong signals from China, India and others to the new Administration in the United States of America that there can be no roll back on climate change commitments.

I will conclude with a question to the Leader. I ask him to ensure that the Irish Government also sends a very strong signal that the US election result will not be used as an excuse to allow things to slide but will be taken as a mandate to strengthen our commitments on climate change. I know that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport will be in the House later to discuss transport related issues but I ask the Leader to invite him to come back to the House at a future date to specifically address the question of sustainable transport.