Pat Casey (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome to the House. I will start with a point made by Senator Ward. It is very hard to stand up here as a man to talk about sexual violence against women, but on the other hand, we should take the lead on it and drive the reform process. I wish to focus on the title of the debate: "Moving Towards Zero Tolerance of Violence Against Women". The question is how quickly we can move because we must move exceptionally quickly on this matter.

I will confine my remarks to two specific areas: one is the education system and the other is the parole system. I have been working with Claire and Phoebe Lott. The Minister will be aware of the tragic and savage death of Claire's daughter, Nadine, in 2019 in Arklow, County Wicklow. I have also been working with Jason Poole in the past year following the death of his sister, Jennifer. We have been looking at the education system with the library and research service. We did a significant piece of work on the role of the education system in tackling gender violence. As part of it, we examined the role of self-defence. It is an interesting report. Without getting into the detail, the key finding is that education must be continuous from junior certificate right up to leaving certificate and start even as early as primary school. It should be a core part of the curriculum. It should not be a scheme run over six weeks that then stops and is never heard of again. The report is an interesting read and is something we should follow up.

I regret that during my life I had some interaction with Frank McCann, who did significant work in our hotel relating to the construction of a bar back in 1989 or the 1990s. Little did I know that a couple of years later he would murder his own daughter and wife. He made three savage attempts to do it and failed on two occasions but he was successful on the third attempt. He has been in the newspapers recently because he is close to release and he is talking about getting a LinkedIn page. The Minister referred earlier to sentencing. When someone is convicted of a murder, he or she is sentenced to life imprisonment. "Life" in Ireland means life. The situation relates to the parole system. When we speak directly to families, we see what they go through, including every time one of these people come up for parole, and what they are put through. The Minister said we must put the victims at the centre, which is the case, but is it right that a person who murders his wife and child can apply for parole after ten and a half years? I had started a campaign so that nobody would be released until they are 80 but I was told I was ageist and sexist and that I could not use such an approach. However, that is what we must consider.