Ms Fiona Ryan:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for giving us the opportunity to be here today. I was delighted to hear the committee wants to adopt a solution-focused approach to these hearings. The truth is that those of us working in domestic violence services go about what we do from a solution-focused approach every single day because we encounter some of the most intractable and, in cases, horrendous realities. While we offer support, our work is to help find solutions.

I will begin by telling members a little about Sonas Domestic Violence Charity because many of them will not know who we are.

Sonas is a domestic violence charity, one of the largest providers in the State of services to women and children experiencing domestic violence. We work across the greater Dublin area and more recently into Wicklow, as Deputy Anne Ferris knows. We work intensively with almost 620 women and children every year. Probably the biggest group in our services are children, which might be surprising to many members of the committee.

We decided to make children the key focus of our submission to this committee, not because we did not want to tell their mothers' stories but because we wanted to present the reality of the 300 to 400 children we engage with every year, many of whom are silent witnesses to acts of unspeakable violence. First, the children whose mothers come to Sonas for support, tend to be young. I appreciate that members of the committee want to hear solutions but one needs to understand the extent of the problem with which we are dealing. Two out of three children with whom Sonas works are under the age of ten, while the biggest group in our services, around one third of children, are under the age of five. That has an impact on services. We are dealing with very young families in many cases and we are talking about particular vulnerabilities. As anyone involved in child welfare and protection will say, the age of the child is one of the risk factors.

I genuinely do not wish to distress the committee but there are harsh realities that need to be understood. We have babies in our services who have been punched because their mothers were holding them at the time they were attacked. We have children who witnessed their mothers being sexually assaulted, including a two year-old who was in a studio apartment at the time. I am using clean clinical language to describe the reality of these children's lives and what they have been through.

I promised one of our clients that I would tell his story, so I would like to do so. His name is Liam and he is aged ten. He said:

Before moving to Sonas, I lived with my Mam and my brother. My Mam's boyfriend was really mean to all of us. He locked me in rooms and pushed me down the stairs. He used to call my Mam bad names and hurt her. I remember sounds of crying, screaming and things breaking. I used to wish I was a superhero and have magic powers so I could make him disappear. I hit him once to make him stop choking my Mam. I was scared but I felt I had to protect her.

I am not telling the committee this to create shock because the truth is that in the services in which we are engaged, this is not shocking. This is often a reality for many of the children with whom we work. I am happy to report, however, that Liam and his family are doing a lot better. His mother is getting the help she needs and he has a sports coach who thinks he is brilliant. He wanted the committee to know that.

Liam's story tells a lot about what children exposed to domestic violence go through, including anxiety and physical and psychological violence. The bottom line is that domestic violence robs children of their sense of safety and well-being at a fundamental level of their childhood. Make no bones about it: perpetrators of domestic violence do not just target the adult woman in this situation. More often than not, they target the child as well, or use the child for extra leverage over the mother. We have mothers in our service who were not allowed to get up in the middle of the night to comfort their children.

I want to ensure we all understand the reality of domestic violence, including a person who has to flee the home they might have paid for, with their children, because it is no longer bearable and they no longer feel protected.

I will now talk about solutions. We are obviously heartened by the development of the new Child and Family Agency and that domestic violence is within its remit. We feel there is an agency there with which we can work, rather than our work being spread across many different agencies. We hope the agency will be adequately resourced around this work. We can talk about the realities and give platitudes, but we must resource such work and services. We must also recognise the extent of need and understand it is a continuing requirement. We need refuges, supported housing and safe housing. There are different solutions for different presenting needs, and if this is not appreciated then, frankly, we are going nowhere.

We think solutions can be found through housing. Sonas is probably the largest provider in this State of housing to women and children experiencing domestic violence. Domestic violence is a leading cause of women and their children becoming homeless or becoming at risk of homelessness. We tend to think of domestic violence purely in terms of interpersonal relationships, but we forget that a whole structural system response is required, including housing.

We have some solid recommendations to make in this regard. Establishing a place of safety and a home is crucial. The current shortage of affordable housing, particularly in Dublin, is making that an extremely difficult challenge for women. It means women are reluctant to seek help. I will cite an example, but the members here will know this. The average rent allowance in the Dublin area is €900 to €950 for a lone parent or a family with two children. That is the maximum one is allowed. Rents are averaging €1,200 to €1,400 per month, which means there is a shortfall of €350 to €450. Can one imagine being in a state of crisis and having to flee? The person may be on social welfare and has to come up with €350 or €450 to avail of private accommodation. There are not enough houses, so women and children who are experiencing domestic violence are even more at risk because of this housing shortage.