Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to second Senator Byrne's proposal. I congratulate him on bringing forward this Bill. I thank the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Deputy Browne, for being here. There is broad Government acceptance for what is being proposed. It is regrettable that such legislation is needed at all, especially given the fact that we live in such an open democracy where protest is allowed, facilitated and welcomed by all of us. I was at a protest last Saturday standing on the streets of Navan outside the gates of my own hospital along with the people of my own town.What the people expect of their public representatives is that they use their elected office. They expect that I would come in here and raise their concerns, in this instance with the Minister for Health, and defend their hospital. The Minister was sitting in this Chamber five minutes before the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, arrived and I am pretty sure he heard what I had to say, as he should. That is democracy but for anyone to contemplate bringing protests to Deputy Donnelly's home and intimidating him or his young family is completely unacceptable. Unfortunately, we have seen the safety of politicians threatened and, in the case of the United Kingdom, we have seen lives lost. In the US, protests fuelled by a madman resulted in the storming of that country's seat of democracy. Unfortunately, because of the global age we live in, which is circular, the belief that this is acceptable infiltrates all of our society and becomes the norm. Members of the Oireachtas have been threatened. Deputy Martin Kenny has had his home attacked and was forced to relocate. That is not acceptable.

We live in a society where our public representatives are readily available, thank God. We are on the street, in clinics, at matches at the weekend and in the local pub. We are out there, not sheltered away. The access to public representatives in Ireland is unique and it should be valued. It is something that we all value, as public representatives. We do not live in a glass bubble. We are readily accessible and the public respects that but, unfortunately, lines have been crossed in certain instances and that is regrettable. It is also regrettable that this Bill is even needed and that we are debating today the issue of respecting the privacy of the home. I note the comments of the Garda Commissioner, Mr. Drew Harris, yesterday. He recognised that protests are a lawful part of our society but said that protections are needed.

Like Senator Malcolm Byrne, I look forward to the Minister of State's contribution to the debate and to seeing this Bill progress to Committee Stage.