Tom Clonan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend this amendment Bill. In my experience of dealing with gender-based violence over the last 23 years, I have learned that one of the significant features of it is the chilling effect the offence has on its reporting. Further to that, it is also my experience that prior to the advent of the terms "cancellation" and "cancel culture", in many cases where a person reports domestic or gender-based violence of any nature, they immediately are confronted with hostile scrutiny, isolation and cancellation. The word "patriarchy" was mentioned earlier. The amount of energy that is invested in cancellation, the isolation and hostile scrutiny of the people who are targeted in this way has always been a matter of interest to me. If even a tiny percentage of that energy was invested in trying to seek out the perpetrator and hold them to account, it would be a far more effective way of dealing with what is a persistent and profound problem in Irish society. I am delighted to lend my support to this Bill.

I agree with Senator Ward that we have an adversarial court system and we have advocates who seek to vindicate the rights of both the defendant and the plaintiff. This, however, is very carefully worded and constructed in such a way that even though a right might be to some extent fettered by denying individuals the right to cross-examine the person who is accusing them of coercive control and domestic violence, there are still significant protections contained within the Bill in the subsections to ensure that their legal rights and their human rights are fully vindicated.I support the Bill and thank Senator Martin for bringing it forward. I am a person who has been involved in investigating, raising, standing up and speaking out against gender-based violence and gender-based discrimination and have witnessed and experienced much reprisal and cancellation as a consequence. Anything we can do to combat that dynamic in Irish society is to be welcomed. I welcome the Domestic Violence (Amendment) Bill 2023. I commend it and I hope it will receive Government support.