Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome. In the first instance, I recognise her commitment to this issue. I am aware that she has advanced a number of policy initiatives and policies that put this at the centre of her term as Minister for Justice. I pay tribute to the fact that the Minister has put this front and centre and that she has shown a commitment to dealing with the issues as discussed in her speech.

It is undeniable that the Minister is a woman, and it is undeniable that when this debate comes up women flock to the Chamber to say what they have to say. Unfortunately, some of them have experience in this regard and they share that experience with us. We have had the experience in these Houses of women sharing appalling things with us.

To an extent, women are not at the core of this issue because the role for answering this issue lies with my sex, with men. All too often, male colleagues are unwilling to come here and to acknowledge the difficulties and the horrors of what it is we are talking about. In the aftermath of the conversations we have had in recent days and weeks, many men have come to me talk to me about this. Some of them have expressed how uncomfortable this conversation is for them. Some expressed not just discomfort but outrage at the extent of the conversation. One of them said that if a man does not support this kind of thing and does not in any way endorse violence against women or the kinds of behaviour we are talking about, then it should not trigger him and he should not be afraid of having this conversation. We should be willing to stand up and acknowledge the fact that in the vast majority of cases it is not women who are perpetrating violence against women, it is men. This does not mean that all men are bad and it does not mean that all men do it, but it does mean that all men must take responsibility.It means that when our friends, our sisters, our mothers or our colleagues who are female say something to us, we must listen and not dismiss it. We must not dismiss it and say that it will be grand or it is not that big a deal. It is that big a deal. If we did not know before Ashling Murphy’s murder, we must know now and we must have heard the countless examples of women affected by these issues. There is a spectrum from verbal harassment and psychological abuse to the appalling rapes and murders that we hear about in the media. Everything on that spectrum is wrong and needs to be treated seriously and to be dealt with by the State, of course, and by our laws, but also by men as members of society. We must accept responsibility to step in.

Some of the things that were said in the past number of weeks were that men need, not just to step in when they see something happening but to step in when one sees the genesis of something happening, such as sexist jokes, harassment, jibes and comments that are passed on unthinkingly. It is the responsibility of every man who cares about this issue and who accepts that it is an issue, to interrupt that and to stand up and say that that is not okay. One does not have to make a big deal and embarrass people but if a person feels that they cannot say it there and then, to take that person aside afterwards and say that that person cannot do that because even though that person may not understand it, it has a knock-on effect which is extraordinarily damaging.

We will undoubtedly hear harrowing accounts today from people who have had constituents or friends contact them but whatever happens today I know in the first instance that the Minister is committed to this issue and that gives me great solace because I already believe she has had some good wins in this. Even today we had progress with Senator Chambers's Bill being passed on Committee Stage.

We are making progress and I have confidence that we will make greater progress. Everyone of us has heard those stories from our friends who walk around at night with their keys held in a certain way, or go on the phone so that anyone around will think that they are talking to somebody, or who get into a taxi and immediately call a friend to give the number of the taxi that they are in, in case anything happens. To ignore these stories is as bad as to be involved. It is incumbent on us all to listen to them, to take them seriously and to help the Minister in whatever way we can to create an official as well as a personal response to those stories to ensure that every woman in Ireland feels the safety and security that she is entitled to, and that many of us as men feel already. We must also ensure that the envelope of security is both personal and official and that women can feel safe in Ireland again, as they always should have been able to do. Gabhaim buíochas.