Ms Fiona Ryan:

I will take the last questions first. SONAS is very lucky to be funded by the Child and Family Agency. In 2015, many domestic violence services were co-funded by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government via local authorities and the Child and Family Agency, which had migrated from the Health Service Executive social inclusion area. Most domestic violence services are funded by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

I am not here to make an appeal for funding for SONAS or anyone else. We are talking about a much wider and bigger issue. That said, the national domestic violence budget for the country is €16 million. That is what the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, spent on hotel beds in the Dublin area for homeless families.