Sharon Keogan (Independent)

I also extend my sympathies to the Fitzgerald family, and indeed the Fianna Fáil family, on the loss of Liam Fitzgerald.

I welcome to the Gallery Councillor Jason Murphy from Waterford and his fiancée, Nicola. They recently got engaged. They are welcome as guests of Senator Ollie Crowe.

I rise to highlight two stories from the United Kingdom that are of relevance to us in Ireland. They are connected by the common theme that we must be very wary of certain ideas of Irish exceptionalism and must stop thinking it will not happen here.

The first story concerns the current reform being proposed to abortion laws in Westminster, which would effectively allow for total liberalisation up to birth. The UK has some of the most extreme abortion laws in Europe. Its 24-week limit is double that of nearly every other European country, where the cap is typically 12 weeks. In the UK, if a child is born prematurely at 22 weeks, the hospital will do everything possible to save its life, yet just two weeks later, that same child could be subject to a partial birth abortion, an act which would be considered tantamount to murder.

British abortion activists still continue to insist that these laws are insufficient, ignoring the majority of UK voters, who believe that current laws are either adequate or too extreme. Here in Ireland, the people consented to the legalisation of abortion on the understanding that we, as a nation, would take a measured and moderate approach. We must honour that promise and not override the will of the people, as has happened too often in the UK and happens increasingly here. In fact, we should be having a real and honest discussion about how to reduce the number of abortions in our country. This is a humane goal that no one should oppose, whether through reasonable restrictions or by providing greater support for women facing crisis pregnancy, giving them a genuine choice.

The second story from our neighbours is the recent release of the report on the grooming gangs. Commissioned by the UK Prime Minister and led by Baroness Casey, its findings are utterly damning. The report found that local authorities and police forces not only failed to act for fear of being accused of racism but, in some cases, the young girls, the victims of rape, were themselves blamed. What is the human cost? The report identified 700 cases of grooming reported in 2023 alone, a figure that is likely an underestimate due to unreliable and, frankly, dishonest reporting. Other studies have estimated that over the past few decades, as many as 1 million young women may have been groomed by these gangs, who are overwhelmingly of south Asian origin. Let us be absolutely clear: this is horrific crime on a sickening scale, enabled by a culture of so-called political correctness, conformity and stifled open debate.When we look to our own country and see that someone who raises concerns about crime or migration is labelled far right, when we see the media freezing out certain voices and when we see politicians in these Houses refusing to engage with accredited media because of their political views, we must recognise this culture is all too present in Ireland today.