Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Senator Gallagher. The Minister is welcome to the House. It is an important day for a number of people who are watching and listening to this debate. I acknowledge Eve McDowell and Una Ring, who are observing proceedings from their home locations in counties Cork and Sligo. I thank the Minister for the acknowledgement in his opening remarks of the work done by Eva, Una and me in bringing forward the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Stalking) Bill 2021 in the House last year. I had to smile at the following comment he made in his opening statement:

While stalking behaviours can already be prosecuted as harassment... the evidence shows that having a specific and stand-alone offence of stalking leads to greater awareness, an increase in the number of victims coming forward and an increase in the number of prosecutions.

I felt as though I was reading one of my own contributions to the previous debate. It took us quite a while to convince the Department that this was the case. When we first went to the Department, before the Minister's time, we were told that this legislation was not needed. However, we kept working on it. Thanks to the campaign of Eve McDowell and Una RIng and the support they got from the public, we ultimately changed the minds of the Department of Justice. It would be remiss of me not to mention Ashling Murphy and the effect her murder had. I think it was within a week of that happening that we received a phone call to come for a meeting, and we were told our Bill would be progressed. We acknowledge her legacy today. We also acknowledge the many other people, mainly women, who have lost their lives. We acknowledge the great progress we are now making on justice issues, as well as advancing and updating our laws to better protect victims, predominantly women, who are victims of these crimes.

The Minister spoke about why this Bill is needed. Other points will be really important, and we will come back to them during the other Stages of the Bill. We need to raise awareness of this new offence, as is now being done with the sharing of intimate images. We also need an awareness campaign for stalking. We need greater enforcement of these new laws. That will require training for the Garda Síochána and the courts. We also need greater supports for victims, so it is not just about enacting a new law. We also need to have all the wraparound supports to make sure that we make a success of this new legislation. I thank the Minister for the work he has done on this. We have seen a lot of him in his new role as Minister for Justice. He has been everywhere. I welcome the fact that the Minister has progressed this legislation.