Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I echo the words of Senator Boyhan about the Government's decision yesterday on the Tuam mother and baby home. I commend the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Zappone, for taking the lead. I also commend Catherine Corless, without whose painstaking historical work, the matter would never have been uncovered. Senator Boyhan is right in saying the families of the babies buried in Tuam deserve truth, recognition and the dignity which was lacking in the past.

Will the Leader invite the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to come to the House to discuss the action he, on behalf of the Government, proposes to take against Saudi Arabia and the words of condemnation he will utter about the appalling murder of the Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in Turkey, about which various things have been leaked in recent days. There appears to have been a complete U-turn by the Saudi authorities which now acknowledge that he was killed in the embassy, despite the fact that they initially suggested he had left alive and then claimed he had been involved in a fight. There is a slow trickle towards the truth which is coming out, but we need to take a strong stance on the issue. I am conscious that we have extensive trade with Saudi Arabia, but we need to look at the issue and what other countries are doing. Canada is taking action on foot of condemnation of the incident. It is an appalling attack on journalism, free speech, democratic principles and the rule of law and needs to be condemned outright.

I hope the referendum on blasphemy will be passed on Friday. I would then like us to have a debate on reforming the incitement to hatred laws. The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 prohibits incitement to hatred on religious and other grounds. It is a much more appropriate way to tackle attacks on people because of their religion. Blasphemy is the offence of defamation against religion, not people. In Pakistan a Christian woman is awaiting a Supreme Court decision on an appeal against her conviction for the offence of blasphemy and the death sentence pronounced on her. This is but one example of the use by countries with oppressive regimes of the offence of blasphemy to repress religious minorities. We should be very mindful of this when we vote on Friday.