Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. I see from a response to a parliamentary question that he gave on 6 October that he has taken a very strong line on this issue. The Minister stated:

I am deeply concerned about the unjustifiable and disproportionate response of the Iranian authorities to Iranian citizens protesting against the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody after her arrest for allegedly violating dress code regulations. Ireland does not believe that anything short of full equality for women should be the objective, anywhere in the world. No woman should lose her life because of how she chooses to dress herself.

The Minister also commended the women and men of Iran, as we should, for the way they have publicly taken on this situation against fierce opposition from a Government that is very dictatorial. The Minister also met with the Iranian foreign minister to express his concern on behalf of the Irish Government and the Irish people. I welcome his strong line on this.

Mahsa Amini is another victim of Iran’s continuing repression and organised discrimination against women, and many in this Chamber today have repeated that particular line. We must at all times, even in this country and even though we are a long way from Iran, stand up for these people and these women because they are entitled to freedom of opinion, expression and belief. I am glad to see that this Chamber is totally condemning the violence against women and the denial of basic human dignity when imposing compulsory hijab policy designed by the state authorities.

Many of the speakers before me have spoken about the brave people who have stood up. There are many journalists in Iran today who are imprisoned because of the death of this young lady and because of what the authorities have done. I refer to Nilufar Hamidi, a women's rights activist who wrote about this situation and is now in solitary confinement. There are also many others and, for example, Saeed Rashido has also been jailed due to speaking out on this matter. The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for all of those journalists in Iran to be released right away.

We talk about morality and our belief and understanding of the word “morality”. When I look up the word "morality", it stands for ethics and nobility. I cannot even understand why these police are called "morality police". The western world is right to stand against the Iranian authorities and to support these women against this type of abuse and beatings. We are now told that tanks are going to be moved into Kurdish areas to try to prevent more protests. We must stand with these very brave people, we must stand for those women's rights and we must at all times back our Government and our Minister. I applaud my party colleague, Senator Chambers, for bringing this matter before the House and I know she has been quite passionate about it. I applaud all Members for speaking out here this evening. That is my full contribution. I do not think anybody should shy away from doing what is the right thing.