Mr. Colm Kelly Ryan:

On behalf of the board of the Men’s Development Network, our staff, clients, participants, and volunteers, we wish to express our gratitude for the invitation to provide testimony before the committee today. It is, as always, an honour to appear before an Oireachtas committee, and in particular to be here with our colleagues from Safe Ireland, Rape Crisis Network Ireland, the National Women’s Council, AkiDwA, Transgender Equality Network Ireland and the Department of Justice.

I am head of programmes and advocacy with the Men's Development Network and the White Ribbon campaign. Joining me is my colleague and friend, Mr. Seán Cooke, CEO of the Men’s Development Network. We would like to begin our statement by commending the significant work conducted by this committee, with the Department of Justice, on the general scheme of the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency Bill. Our presentation today seeks to complement the committee's important work to date and provide support and refinement in presenting a comprehensive Bill later this year.

As an organisation that engages with men and boys through gender-transformative approaches, we are part of a growing movement nationally and internationally of men speaking out about gender-based violence, including violence against women and girls. In the field of gender-based violence prevention, we are indebted to the leadership of women, in particular, women of intersectional backgrounds, and their representative organisations for the leadership role that they have played and continue to play in this area. Organisationally, we believe it is vital for us, especially as men, to thank and acknowledge their leadership in the creation of a society that is free from violence.

The design, development, and implementation of a robust co-ordinating agency for all aspects of the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a State obligation under Articles 7 and 10 of the Istanbul Convention. However, Ireland’s journey towards the establishment of a dedicated agency also starts with the role of women’s leadership. The National Women’s Council, in its submission of June 2021, specifically called for a DSGBV agency to co-ordinate policies and service delivery. Other organisations such as Ruhama, Safe Ireland and Women’s Aid, among others, also called for such policy and service co-ordination and accountability mechanisms. Furthermore, the work of the Minister, Deputy Helen McEntee, in leading the Department of Justice was vital in the development of this third national strategy. These are just some of many examples of women’s leadership roles and actions which have brought every single one of us here today.

The Men’s Development Network, through our own policy submissions as part of the drafting of the third national strategy and through our engagements with the citizens’ assembly process, has supported the development of this proposed agency, and continues to do so.

Our written submission, which I look forward to receiving questions on, as does my colleague Mr. Cooke, focused on heads 14 and 18 of the proposed general scheme, mainly centring on the functions of the proposed, the composition of governance structures and membership of the board. It also specifically includes, as part of the prevention pillar, engagement with men and boys, which is, for us, fundamental to developing a society where there is zero tolerance to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. I thank the committee.