Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I do not have too many questions myself because most aspects have been covered. Ms Mulqueen said that after one year of training, someone left an abusive relationship. It is very important, even today, to have the discussion, to talk about it, to raise awareness and for people to identify with this. If there is no physical violence but there is abuse, people do not always see that they are in this situation and they can often be the very last person to see it. It was a good point to make and it is good to hear that people are seeing and identifying with that.

Reference was made to the rural aspect and this was excellent. As Deputy Cairns has said, and as Deputy Murnane O'Connor will also know, it is often the case that in a rural constituency transport is an issue in respect of how a person gets to all of these services, and this is before you even factor in childcare or anything else. We all know - and it is nearly all women in the room - that for a woman to have her own power, she needs to be able to earn her own money. I remember a teacher who taught civics, which I believe has changed now to civic, social and political education, CSPE. I went to an all-girl secondary school and this teacher was always adamant about it and always said to us to keep our foot in the door somewhere, even if we were only part-time. She said that we had to have our own financial independence. This may have come from something that happened in her own life but it always stayed with me for the whole of my life. It is so important for us as women to be able to have that financial control. If you get to a stage where work is getting difficult it is not just about taking time off for appointments, it is also about how you cope and face going into work. That ten days is vital. This has been a really good discussion. Does anyone want to ask anything else or making any additional points?