Lisa Chambers (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I also want to acknowledge Eve McDowell and Una Ring for the work they have done as campaigners, working with myself and others, including the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for most of the last two years. It has been a long road but we are nearly there. We had thought the Bill might conclude today but these amendments are there to enhance the legislation. As we have heard from the Minister, the intention behind the amendments is to strengthen the Bill, putting victims at the centre and making sure that we give as much protection as possible to other people who might find themselves in a similar situation to Una and Eve. It is very welcome.

It is not very often that citizens get an opportunity to change the law. As politicians, we ourselves find it difficult to make changes to legislation, but it is rare that citizens through their own campaigning bring about a change to legislation, which is what Una and Eve will achieve when this Bill passes all stages in both Houses, and it will go back to the Dáil next week. I take this opportunity to thank both women and their families for the work they have done, and they are joined in the Visitors Gallery today by their supporters and family. I know that since bringing this issue to light almost two years ago, they have become a point or a source of information and support for other victims and they are consistently having contact with and taking phone calls and emails from other victims who are trying to navigate what is a complicated and complex system. They can both be very proud of what they have achieved. It has been an honour and a privilege to work with both of them in getting us to where we are today, with the Minister as well. We are fortunate to have a female Minister for Justice who understands these issues and who has made sure that women's safety is top of the agenda in the Department of Justice. It has been a team effort but, ultimately, it has been down to the work of both Eve and Una. I thank them for that.