Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House and for his personal commitment to addressing these issues. I agree very strongly with Senator Moynihan that there are quite a number of issues in respect of housing which have not been fully teased out during debates on this matter. These issues do not affect only those on council housing lists. Situations often arise in which the relationship between a couple that has a mortgage breaks down, possibly as a result of abuse, which may be physical but may also be emotional. The difficulty is that when the parties separate and one goes to the local authority to seek a place on the housing list, he or she is considered to have income coming from the sale of the house. The circumstances involved can be very difficult. While, in many ways, local authorities can try to be as sympathetic as possible, part of the difficulty is that such people are caught by the rules in respect of income limits and so on. I echo many of the concerns Senator Moynihan raised in respect of the housing issue.

The legislation with regard to online harassment is moving forward. Cyberbullying is often tied to some of the challenges we are discussing today. I strongly support continued efforts to implement Coco's law. We should try to keep that name in some way built into that legislation.

A number of Senators, including my colleague, Senator Fitzpatrick, have raised the issue of image-based sexual abuse. It is horrific that something so intimate could be shared widely. I was struck by the story of Róisín Nic Lochlainn, a student at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She spoke with Joe Duffy on "Liveline", as the Minister might recall, about her experience of being filmed in an intimate situation when she was 17 and the trauma the sharing of this video caused her.As Senator Fitzpatrick said, I think of the impact something like that has at any age, but in particular that age. As legislators, we often speak in a very abstract way. We talk about the numbers and those impacted, but let us try to imagine ourselves at that age and the impact that it has, in particular now that there is so much pressure to be liked by one's peers, especially on social media. To be honest, we can all imagine how frightening it would be if social media were around when we did things in our teens and 20s. We must look at it that way, and to allow children and young people to be children and young people safely. That must be at the heart of what we do.

I wish to raise one final issue which has not been referred to, that is, the question of parental alienation. Relationships can break down, but it becomes a problem when children are weaponised. I refer to the psychological manipulation of a child by one or other parent. This can sometimes take very subtle forms. I appreciate that there are enormous legal difficulties proving it. There is an impact on the child and there is also an impact on the relationship of the mother or father with the child. We need to look at some way to have regard in both the civil and criminal legislation to situations whereby concerted efforts are made to alienate children by one parent against the other.