Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also stand in support of my colleague, Senator McDowell, and compliment him on the speed with which he reacted to the case that arose. It is one of the great aspects of this House that we are lucky to have so many brilliant legal eagles in both the Dáil and Seanad who are able to immediately respond to something like this. I also compliment the Minister for taking on board the concerns of Senator McDowell and, more important, the concerns of the families. She is to be congratulated on the way she has approached these matters.

I am aware the Government may introduce amendments on Committee Stage and I ask that whatever amendments come before the House, the Government would work with Senator McDowell, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan and Senator Bacik, among others, who are experts in the area of law. It may save much time on Committee Stage if various amendments are ironed out early on.

The Bill sets out to rectify the anomaly that was created by the Court of Appeal in its judgment and the court had no choice at the time but to deliver on that. Some people have referred to the ruling as absurd. I do not know if we can say that, as the judge had to act on whatever was before him.It is heartbreaking when we think, in particular, of mothers and fathers who have lost a child to murder. The only way they can keep the memory of the child alive is by telling their story. I am mindful today of the Dullard family and Jo Jo Dullard who disappeared so many years ago now that I cannot remember. The family has kept her memory alive by constantly talking about her and bringing her story into the media spotlight. I meant to speak of the young boy, who was about 12 years of age, who disappeared in Dublin during his lunch break one day. I forget his name. Again, until recently, his mother has kept his memory alive by discussing him.

As part of the healing and grieving process, it is most important for parents to be able to name their loved child. If that grieving process is served by having the child's name in the public domain, then that is where it should be. I cannot but think of the most recent case of the mother who had to anonymise herself. What must she feel? All she wanted to do was to talk about her beautiful child who was lost. Those of us who have children know that if anything happens to them, we want to remember them as they were. We want to remember everything about them.

I commend the Minister on taking this on board. I hope that this Bill is passed quickly in order that those parents who are grieving today can start to speak about their children to journalists again, because that is the only way they can keep their children alive in their own minds. There is nothing worse in this world than losing a child, but losing a child to murder must be absolutely desperate. I am not going to take up any more of the Minister's time. I thank her for moving on this Bill. I hope the remaining Stages of the Bill move quickly.