Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in. Apologies, but I was coming from another meeting that ran on. I ask Dr. Mbugua to expand on her comments on the challenges in getting into schools and the education system. I ask her to give us some idea of what the actual challenges are. Are obstacles being put in the organisation's way? If so, where are they? How can those obstacles be overcome in a practical sense? Perhaps we can come from the top down if necessary to get into and infiltrate our school systems.

I am very interested in the idea of refuges. I come from a constituency, which as Ms McDermott is aware, that is very bleak in terms of the supports, practical supports and wraparound services that are provided for women and men. Mr. Ryan referred to the Istanbul Convention and the ideas contained within it. He stated that the convention recommends one shelter space for every 10,000 people in Ireland. How many refuges do we have for men around the country? Where are the gaps?

I have had a lot of dealings with Ms McDermott over the last few months. In her opening statement, she referred to "Mixed models or the 'shoe-horning' of DSGBV into existing structures" as something that Safe Ireland does not want to see repeated. I ask Ms McDermott to be more explicit on the types of models that she was referring to there. I know what Safe Ireland wants. It wants a holistic approach to be taken. It wants to see wraparound services and appropriate accommodation provided. I ask Ms McDermott to outline explicitly what Safe Ireland does not want to see, so that we do not make mistakes when we are at the infancy stage of trying to create the right system. I do not want to see those mistakes happen in Cavan-Monaghan anyway.