Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson and I also thank her for seconding the Bill. I thank all of the speakers tonight, including the Acting Chairperson and Senators Ward, Warfield and Wall, for their support for this Bill. It means a great deal to me, to Jason, to Jason's family and to all of the women out there who could be protected and saved if this legislation becomes law. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for being here and for her empathy in such a sensitive, delicate and awful situation where we are trying to use the experience of Jason and his family to try to make life a little better.

I appreciate the ongoing good work of the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to support victims of domestic violence and ensure there are more refuges and supports for victims. I appreciate that there are certain sections of this Bill which could and should be amended. As we know when any Bill starts out, there is every opportunity to make it a better Bill and to make it more robust. I would certainly welcome any such amendments.

The point Senator Ward made about section 8 is something I had noticed too. When we come to Committee Stage, my first amendment will be to have three subsections in section 8, and to change one slightly. In fact, I sent that to the Bills Office. When it came back, it was the original version. It was my fault as I did not notice that it did not have the change in it.I absolutely accept that. It would be the first amendment I would make on Committee Stage.

I appreciate that when the Government produces legislation for us to debate, there is a massive team of people behind it. There are so many researchers, drafters and people with huge experience. Bringing forward a Private Members' Bill, I would obviously not expect to have access to that same level or depth of knowledge. However, I was very lucky to have the support of Deputy Jim O'Callaghan and Councillor Deirdre Heney. I absolutely look forward to amendments from the Government and, indeed, all parties in the context of making this legislation more robust. I welcome that input because I believe this Bill has a place on the Statute Book.

The Minister mentioned that there has not been positive feedback regarding this in Australia. However, there has been very positive feedback in New South Wales and in Alberta in Canada. It is important that we look at all of the areas that have gone through this process before and that we may be able to learn from them.

The last thing I will say is that Jason Poole approached many of us. It did not matter what party we represent. I know he has had several meetings with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, in terms of progressing some sort of legislation. I am not precious as to whether it is this legislation or whether the Government brings forward different legislation. What I am concerned about is the timing and trying to ensure that we have legislation on our Statute Book that supports the establishment of a domestic violence register. When we launched this Bill last June, Jason said some words that stuck with me. I will read them into the record because Jason cannot do so. These will be my final words on the matter. Jason stated:

Everyone should have the right to know if their partner has a violent past and is hiding it from them. My sister Jennifer didn’t have that. She didn’t know her ex-partner had already been in prison for a similar offence.

He would have been already on that Register if it had existed at the time.

The Register would give the Gardaí a tool to be able to inform somebody, when asked, if their partner has a violent history. The simple fact is that the Register could have prevented Jennifer’s murder and perhaps of many more women.

I rest my case.