Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire agus roimh an reachtaíocht atá os ár gcomhair. Fáiltím roimh an tseal seo chun an t-ábhar seo a phlé. Gabhaim buíochas le grúpa Fhine Gael anseo sa tSeanad agus, mar atá ráite, le Young Fine Gael fosta, as an ábhar seo a fháil curtha ag croílar an tSeanaid anocht.

We support the intention behind this Bill. There is unanimous support across the House at this Stage, which I hope is no surprise to colleagues across the Chamber. Sinn Féin thinks the current issue is a lack of gardaí, and a lack of resourcing within the DPP and the courts. The DPP has pointed out that it is struggling to cope with the increased prosecution of sexual offences. Laws on the Statute Book require resources to ensure they are effective. That is the context in which we should see spiking. For whatever its purpose, whether that is sexual assault or rape, physical assault or theft or for cruel amusement, spiking is a crime. Spiking should be a crime no matter what reason it is carried out.

I thank and commend the Fine Gael group on bringing this Bill before us today and, indeed, their colleagues in Young Fine Gael. I thank them because, if nothing else, we have had an opportunity tonight to discuss and highlight the problem of spiking. I hope during this debate that we offer some support, advice, signposting and guidance. I would not underestimate the importance of the latter in and of itself.

I agree with Senator Horkan and other colleagues who have spoken that the Bill requires some fine-tuning. However, we all agree that spiking should be a stand-alone offence and that those who are responsible for spiking, whatever their intention, whether it is nasty, cynical, cruel or wrong, should be dealt with and punished accordingly. That is the banner under which we are all approaching this issue tonight.

The investigation into spiking adds to the already growing number of sexual assaults that people are experiencing and this can be seen from a recent survey conduced by the Central Statistics Office. The key findings from the survey show that: in their lifetime, 52% of women reported experiencing sexual violence; in their lifetime, 28% of men reported experiencing sexual violence; of those aged 18 to 24, 22% reported experiencing sexual violence both as a child and an adult; of those aged 65 and over, 8% reported experiencing sexual violence both as an adult and as a child; and the proportion of adults who experienced sexual violence in their lifetime was 40% with higher levels for women, at 52%, compared with men at 28%.

The survey indicated that overall sexual violence prevalence rates show an age effect as younger people reported higher levels than older persons so, for example, 22% of those aged 18 to 24 experienced sexual violence both as an adult and a child compared with 8% of those aged over 65 and over; four times more women, at 21%, than men, at 5%, reported experiencing non-consensual sexual intercourse over their lifetime; one in ten women, at 10%, experienced non-consensual sexual intercourse as an adult when they were unable to give consent; almost one in five men, at 17%, aged between 25 and 34 experienced non-consensual sexual touching as an adult; one in five adults experienced unwanted contact sexual violence as a child, at 20%, and a similar number experienced unwanted non-contact sexual violence, at 19%; the majority of adults, at 78%, who experienced sexual violence at least once in their lifetime knew the perpetrator, with very little difference between women, at 79%, and men, at 75%; about half of adults or 47% who experienced sexual violence in their lifetime told someone about it, with disclosure more likely if the experience was with a non-partner - only 55% - than with a partner - only 16 %; and women who experienced sexual violence in their lifetime were more likely to have told someone, at 53%, compared with men, at 34%. The Minister can see from the results of the survey the scale of sexual assault and the pressure on the Garda and courts to effectively deal with sexual violence.

The reason I wanted to outline some of the statistics is because of something alluded to earlier. It is an important aspect of this issue and why I think it needs to be dealt with thoroughly. I refer to the fact that so many of these instances go not only unrecorded or unreported but, as Senator Horkan alluded to, perhaps even unknown to the victims themselves and they may think to themselves, "God, that was a heavy night" while not being aware of what happened to them. Not all of the cynical intention behind spiking finishes with a physical or sexual assault. Sometimes people are just lucky that they made it home without falling into the canal or being hit by a bus, and thank God. There are all of these things to consider in the mix and that is why this legislation is before us. This legislation is important because it gives us an opportunity to discuss this matter. It is so important that this Bill has cross-party support. I hope that positivity will be reciprocated by Government by ensuring the speedy but effective conclusion of this legislation as soon as possible.