Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Acting Leader may recall on 3 April this year I spoke on the Order of Business about a young lady, Aimee Foley, from my hometown of Ennistymon. I spoke about her bravery in waiving her anonymity and speaking openly, honestly and candidly about her experience at the hands of her father. I spoke about how disappointed she was with the justice system where he only received a short sentence of five years. I am delighted that Aimee Foley is here in the Gallery today and I would like to welcome her, and her mother, Camille, and her husband, Dermot, to Seanad Éireann. As a result of Aimee waiving her anonymity, and it was only as a result of doing so, the DPP proceeded to appeal the leniency of the sentence. A number of weeks ago, the sentence was doubled to ten years. Aimee's bravery resulted in shaking the justice system in this country.

Now, Aimee wants to see change that will impact positively on the lives of anyone else in this country who has been sexually abused or raped. She wants to see minimum sentencing for anyone who is convicted of rape in this country. I do not think that is too much to ask. If someone is raped it impacts on them for the rest of their lives so the person who perpetrates such a heinous crime should face a mandatory minimum sentencing. That does not mean that it is a maximum sentence, of course. The maximum sentence, in many cases, should be a lot more. When somebody has the bravery to declare what has happened to them in life, go to the Garda, do what they are encouraged to do, make a report, make a complaint and proceed to court, the least they should expect is that when the criminal is found guilty that they will get a minimum sentence of seven years. Aimee also wants to see work done in terms of much greater support for victims who go through the system. Her experience was haphazard, to say the least. She felt that the supports were not there for her when her case was going through the courts. That needs to change fundamentally. Furthermore, when somebody is convicted, the victim can often be forgotten. There needs to be a proper dedicated support structure for victims who are trying to rebuild their lives following on from a successful court case.

There is a lot of work that this House can do in terms of highlighting these issues and bringing them to the attention of Government. They are not party political issues but they are political issues. They are political issues that everyone across the political divide from all parties or none should sign up to, and I know in most cases they do.

Later today, Aimee is meeting the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Simon Harris, and the Chair of the justice committee. She will also meet other political figures in this House. I would like to commend her again on her bravery and welcome her and her family to the House today.