Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not use all of my time. I think there will be another Sinn Féin speaker in the House. I want to express my support and that of Sinn Féin for the Bill. I also welcome the fast pace of its progress. We would hope to see more examples of such co-operation in this House. We have seen it this year in this House. I think it is more akin to the co-operation we saw in the Twenty-fifth Seanad.

I extend my sympathies to all of the families who have been affected by the subject of today's Bill. Of course, it will not change their situation but I hope it will bring some measure of comfort. We want to see a situation where parents of children who have been killed can use their victim impact statements to the court to tell the story of their loved ones. This is a frustration that many families have felt. It should not have been left to the families to worry about possible legal implications. Many families of children who have been killed will always want to remain out of the public eye and that right should always be fully respected. Others draw comfort from talking publicly about their children and want to celebrate their memories. Part of this may involve referring to the circumstances of their deaths. Therefore, we obviously need to remove the barrier that prevents families from fully remembering and celebrating the lives of those tragically taken from them. They may seek to remember them in the name of an organisation, foundation or charity and that example was mentioned to me by a friend with whom I spoke before this debate.

I welcome the Minister for Justice to the House. She said recently that issues have arisen on foot of the original ruling regarding the cases of people who were children at the time of the offence but adults when proceedings were taken against the perpetrators. Can we expect more legislation or can this be achieved by a ministerial order? We should also use this time to focus on the supports available to the families and loved ones of children who have been killed. These families will now have the right to refer to their children, but we must ensure adequate supports are available to them. I ask the Minister to use the cross-party consensus and dynamic of this issue to ensure that victim supports are enhanced for the relatives and friends of child victims.