Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Cuirím fáilte roimh an Aire. Déanaim comhghairdeas léi as ucht a nuachta pearsanta.

I welcome the motion and its contents on behalf of the Fine Gael group. The motion is very much appropriate. What is perhaps shocking is that it is the first piece, as the Minister said in her own words, of European Union legislation to recognise this area of criminality. In many respects we in Ireland are used to taking our lead from Europe and being led by Europe in certain areas like employment law, health and safety law, and environmental law. In this instance, I think we are a little bit ahead of the European Union curve. The Minister deserves credit for the amount of legislation that we have seen, even in the last year or two since she became the Minister, that has actively pursued and put a lot of these matters on the Statute Book so that there is a clear recognition as a Government and Legislature, but also as a society, that the kind of behaviour that is the subject of this directive is not acceptable, and must be stamped out in no uncertain terms because it damages us all.

The Minister talked about reputational damage. Obviously that is at a very high level and it is entirely appropriate that Ireland should, to the greatest extent possible, lead the charge on this issue right down to the people who are affected by this kind of behaviour.Everybody is affected in a pervasive way by domestic and gender-based violence, including children, women and anybody else in the home, as well as their neighbours, friends and family. It is not just the victim or the person directly affected by the crime. It is like a cancer since it spreads well beyond the direct victim of the crime. There is no doubt that this motion is appropriate and supporting it would be in accordance with domestic legislation we have put in place already. It is also appropriate in the context of Ireland's ratification of the Istanbul Convention. The Minister said that some Council of Europe states are not yet signatories to the convention or are considering withdrawing from it. I am proud that we are not among them. The notion that countries are considering taking those steps, or not taking the step of ratifying the convention, says more about them than we know.

I am proud that Ireland has taken this issue by the horns and is willing to be at the forefront. In recent months, the House passed a motion dealing specifically with violence against women and gender-based violence. We have put our views on the record and clearly stated what we think about these issues. This year alone, we have had some particularly horrific tragedies involving violence against women. We did not need them to know there was a problem but they brought the issue, at the highest end of the scale, to the fore. It is important to recognise that this kind of violence and the criminality that will be the target of this directive extends from one end of the spectrum right across to the psychological and repeated abuse of people in their own homes. The latter may not grab headlines in the same way but it is incredibly damaging for all of us. Realising that is tremendously important.

This is an important issue, which affects many of our family members, friends and colleagues. The Minister cited statistics on the number of women who have been the victims of violence at some level. They are targeted in different ways. We need to put down a marker. I like that Seanad has already passed motions on this issue It is entirely sensible and consistent for us to support this motion and to exercise the option under protocol 21 to make sure that Ireland can lead on this as much as possible. I commend the motion and the Minister on bringing it to the House.