Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages

Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill 2011 [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil]: Report and Final Stages

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Senator Ivana Bacik: I welcome the Minister to the House and thank him for his kind comments on the Bill. It is almost two years since I introduced a Private Members' Bill in the House to prohibit female genital mutilation. I was delighted when the then Government took it up as a Government Bill and the current Government committed to introducing it. I thank the Minister for his personal interest and steering of the Bill through the Seanad and Dáil. The fact it has taken two years may be due to the fact that a Government fell in the meantime and we entered an IMF programme. There are my reasons for the delay. I am glad the Bill will pass.

I pay tribute to AkiDwA, the organisation represented in the Gallery, which has done a great deal of work on this issue in Ireland. In respect of the two amendments made in the Dáil, other amendments were mooted and discussed. We also fully discussed them in the Seanad. Perhaps they will be made by way of other legislation in the future.

I was concerned about dual criminality, namely, that the Bill would have allowed prosecution for an offence where a person here took a girl or woman abroad to have female genital mutilation performed in a country where it was not an offence. We received the advice of the Attorney General and were told it would not be possible to remove the provision and that the act must also constitute an offence in the place where it is done. It is a minor point which it would have been good to see addressed by way of amendment. Work is ongoing on the matter.

Amnesty International also raised issues about definitions in the Bill. Those issues were fully debated in the Seanad and Dáil. The amendments made in the Dáil and which we are agreeing today are technical and I support them.

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An Leas-Chathaoirleach: When is it proposed to take Fifth Stage?

Senator Ivana Bacik: Now.

Question proposed: “That the Bill do now pass.”

Minister for Health (Deputy James Reilly): I am delighted the Bill will be successfully passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas. Ireland will shortly join an ever expanding list of nations which have made a forceful and explicit statement of their unwillingness to tolerate this human rights violation.

We know from talking to NGOs and public health services that summer is the time when girls are most at risk of being victims of female genital mutilation with families travelling to practising countries during the school holidays. Therefore, it is my intention that a commencement order be issued before the summer.

I emphasise that Ireland is in the fortunate position of being able to take a proactive approach to the prevention of female genital mutilation. We have the opportunity and duty to protect women and children from practising communities currently living in Ireland from undergoing this procedure. While legislation alone is never sufficient to tackle the problem of this gravity, the enactment of a Bill specifically prohibiting female genital mutilation and including extraterritorial provisions will be a vital step in preventing female genital mutilation taking hold in this country.

The Bill, when enacted, will act as a powerful deterrent and also potentially empower practising communities living in Ireland to resist pressure from their country of origin to preserve this custom. It is hoped it will enlighten their home communities where the practice still takes place.

I extend my gratitude to Senator Ivana Bacik for raising the issue in the Seanad, encouraging the Government of the day to commence preparation of the Bill and giving the current Bill her continued support during its passage through the Houses of the Oireachtas. I acknowledge the support and encouragement given by AkiDwA.

Senator Ivana Bacik: I thank the Minister for his kind words and all colleagues in the House for their support before and since the last election. It is good to see the Bill receive cross-party support. As Senator White said, it is a sign of what the Seanad can do in terms of initiating legislation on areas which have not been dealt with in the Dáil.

Most importantly, as the Minister said, this legislation should have a powerful deterrent effect and will form part of a public advocacy campaign for those women and girls living in Ireland who are at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation. Senator Colm Burke referred to AkiDwA's estimate that more than 3,000 women and girls living in the State have been subjected to FGM. That is an extraordinarily high figure. For the 10,000 women and girls from FGM-practising communities living in this country, our objective in this legislation is to ensure this barbaric practice is not carried out on any of them in the future. The Bill's commencement before the summer is particularly welcome in light of reports that girls are most at risk of being taken abroad during the summer. It is vital that anybody resident in Ireland is aware that taking a girl abroad for the purposes of having FGM performed on her or subjecting her to the procedure in this country is a prosecutable offence. That is the great strength of the legislation.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute once again to all of the organisations, including AkiDwA, which have worked so hard on this issue for many years. I pay particular tribute to the departmental officials sitting behind the Minister for their work in preparing the legislation. I also thank the Minister for his kind words, hard work and personal commitment to this matter.

Question put and agreed to.