Ms Mary McDermott:

I might respond to that. The simple answer to that is "No". There are many moving parts and policy responses involving the Garda, the Judiciary, the family courts and welfare. We worked very positively with the Department of Social Protection on introducing the wonderful domestic violence rent supplement. We have had major blocks with housing and accommodation. It is just an absolute block. We also have difficulties with health and education in terms of really taking on this subject at a very profound level and addressing it directly.

The building of refuges can only be done at central government level. Some of the projects we are trying to support are philanthropically driven and as a result they are restricted according to the desires of the funders and so on. We are fighting away to ensure that is as widespread as possible, trying to make our analysis as broad as possible, trying to make our responses as robust as possible. However, the bottom line on this is even following the accommodation review by Tusla if Ireland is to meet its Istanbul Convention recommendations to have support for one in 10,000 of the population, we would need an extra 500 units. That goes back to Senator Ruane's earlier question on design. We need to sit down and plan what that means and not plan it based on a 19th century Dickensian model.

As everyone in the room has said this evening, there is before refuge, refuge and after refuge. There are a range of responses. It is all about prevention. However, that does not happen in a hidden, secret, silent and stigmatised place. That needs to be placed front and centre in the community. The Covid pandemic has taught us that. I am relatively new, although I am an old hippie hack for social justice. I can see within the network of the extraordinary work that all these services provide, it actually provides at front-line community level a moment, a visible manifestation in the public arena where this issue can be spoken about.

At their best, these centres could provide the beds and so forth for people in extremis. However, they can also be places for young people from violent and oppressive homes and children who need therapeutic intervention. It is not only about parents; this happens to single men and single women who are in extreme distress in a coercive and controlling relationship and need support. That is true of all sorts of beliefs and cultural mores within our system that we are slowly phasing out. The mother and baby homes scandal is another remnant of this - to completely put the cat among the pigeons. This is all part of a major cultural trend that we are trying to address. We can do that, but it needs to be designed.