Ms Mary McDermott:

This pertains to the question raised earlier by Deputy Smyth as to what is the best response. Can I just step back for a moment in response to what Senator Gallagher is saying there, which is that from the point of view of Safe Ireland, this is a very dark subject and it can sometimes feel very heavy but we actually feel very hopeful because the first thing that needs to be done is that, as a society, we need to step away, as we have done in other domains around mental health.

We must step away from the shame, stigma, secrecy and silence that surrounds this subject.

The second point relates to fear and fatalism. We do not believe in an oppressive home. For most of us, sitting for two seconds and saying a person does not have to live in an oppressive home is a radical statement. Perhaps I am too old and younger people in the meeting might not feel the same way but there is the idea that if you make your bed, you lie in it. It is another tactic of blaming the victim so that victim stays in an abusive or coercive relationship. On the question of what is best practice, we have decades of experience of front-line workers on helplines and in front-line services. There are also gardaí, social workers and teachers. All that expertise is there. To pick up on what Deputy Kenny said, there is a need to pull this together into a coherent whole. We must pull together all the knowledge and expertise we have, along with the knowledge and expertise we have gained since Covid-19, as we have been able to speak about the matter. As a country we have had an imaginative and positive response but we must not take our foot off the pedal.

For example, we appear to sense there is a waning of support for Operation Faoiseamh. We must ensure this is not pushed back into oblivion. One of the heartbreaking elements of why we are sitting here this evening is that in the budget there was no clear delineation or funding and political decisions have yet to be made on the subject. It is a crucial matter. The expertise is there and we know about it; it is scattered and we just need for it to be pulled together in a systematic way and made available for everyone. I am getting a bit heated so my colleagues might step in and say something a little less rhetorical.