Dr. Liz Brosnan:

I want to come in on this point because it is a critical point. I thank Deputy Hourigan for raising the question.

Everything that permeates the culture and ethos within services revolves around coercion. To make a difference, I would like to see some thought given to whether it could be mentioned as a concept that is now emerging in legislation to support women - incidentally, a happy International Women's Day to my sisters here - where I understand some efforts are being made to address the issue of people experiencing coercive relationships by providing for a code for criminal coercion in that area of law. Perhaps it is possible for the creative minds of people on the committee and within Government, people who experience this and us to be creative and to capture it within the guiding principles or the opening statement, being mindful that it is something we need to find ways to address. There should be a strong emphasis on freedom and supporting people in terms of independent advocacy and their rights and providing funding to strong peer-developed projects. We have projects around the world, such as Soteria and the Leeds peer-run crisis houses, to which I hope others will speak. We have examples around the world of places where people can find alternatives to the control that happens within services.

It is not a direct answer. It is a plea for us to begin to think more and to divert more funding into alternatives to the system we have. I do not believe it is possible to replace it but let us please find some way to divert more funding and resources into building up the capacity of the independent peer-run and peer-support services.