Seanad Report: It was an appalling indictment of modern Ireland that a young woman could cry out for help in a public place and people would look the other way, Brian Hayes, Fine Gael leader in the House said.
When the woman was being abducted off Dublin's O'Connell Street, prior to a serious sexual assault, hundreds of people were walking by but, despite her cries, no one went to her aid.
There was a need to highlight the responsibility on citizens to look out for and to help each each other, said Mr Hayes.
Joe O'Toole (Ind) said the duties of citizens in a democracy were well worth discussing. "There are responsibilities to being part of a democracy."
David Norris (Ind) said people were afraid to intervene. Many young people in Dublin were taking crack cocaine and passersby were afraid because these drug takers were out of control. He had intervened in a number of incidents and on one occasion he had to have three stitches.
Camillus Glynn (FF) said that the ordeal of this young woman on a public street was stomach-churning. Sheila Terry (FG) said it was a reflection on our society that people could stand by and watch this kind of thing happen.
House leader Mary O'Rourke (FF) said a newspaper report of the attack was quite the worst thing she had read about sexual depravity on a Dublin Street.
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Mr Norris said there was a very good article by Mary Raftery in The Irish Times yesterday about the Mater hospital and its attack on a former patient.
"She points out that this is the hospital that had problems with their ethical committee preventing people getting cancer treatment drugs before from a narrow sectarian point of view. This is where we're putting the children's hospital. I think we need to look again at this."
Mr Norris said he thought it was outrageous that an individual should be subjected to this kind of pressure from "a legally bullying and factually inaccurate letter from a firm of Dublin solicitors".