Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 3 November 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

Women's Shelters and Domestic Abuse Refuges: Discussion

Ms Mary McDermott:

One of the features of a violent or oppressive relationship is that horizontal violence is created. In our sector we are often set against each other, which is ridiculous nonsense when we are all trying to solve a single social problem. This goes back to the requirement for a coherent single State response to the matter.

In the case of domestic violence, there is policy in one Department and services in a State agency outside central government. We are not casting aspersions anywhere but this is simply about structure, governance and efficient running and response that will create coherent and co-ordinated responses across the country for all the needs presenting. We are repeatedly calling for a coherent response.

International research shows that a single location in a single Ministry, and indeed sometimes a dedicated Ministry itself, may well be an efficient response to this. It goes back to some of the questions about the history that came up earlier. We are looking at an organic network of local community responses and independent organisations, often charity-based historically, and often community-based, that need support and need to be pulled in. This is not an individualised problem; it is a large-scale social problem for which we need a large-scale social response.

I will stop speaking and ask my colleagues to come in.

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