Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

Last night it was pointed out that there will be 35 assaults before a victim makes a report to the Garda. The victims often say they feel trapped, helpless, ignored, abandoned or at a loss. They feel they have nowhere to go and are ashamed. They say, "He does not mean it, he really loves me and the kids. I probably provoke him". There are others who say nothing while the abuse continues. I have an image in my head of a woman who came to me, telling me of her partner putting a pillow over their child's face and saying that if she reported him for abuse, he would kill her and the children. She contacted me to seek support from the Garda but the Garda said it did not have the resources. She was told to lock her door and contact the Garda if there was a problem.

Our motion calls on the Government to prioritise and guarantee core funding to front line services for domestic violence on a multi-annual basis to allow for the strategic development and delivery of services. If we can deliver that then victims may no longer feel trapped, helpless, ignored or abandoned, they may feel like they have somewhere to go or someone to talk to.

The Tallaght based domestic violence refuge, Saoirse, took 13 years to develop from an idea to a front line group working with victims of domestic violence. When it was established, it was agreed that the HSE would pay staff salaries and the local authority, South Dublin County Council, would pay day to day costs, including heating and lighting on a quarterly basis and in advance. The first payments were made from January to November 2006 and nothing has been paid since. This refuge is currently helping six families and it should not have to wait for day to day funding. It should also not have to wait months for the HSE to supply the house with a medical card.

The majority of funding for domestic violence services comes from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Social and Family Affairs, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and the Department of Health and Children. These groups are supposed to work on the front line to help victims but end up spending their time chasing down different Departments looking for mixed funding. The Minister of State, Deputy Frank Fahey, last night announced his intention to establish a domestic violence office. This is a welcome development but if this office is to be a success it must be given the statutory responsibility to handle funding allocations from all Departments on a multi-annual basis with the full budget allocated.

Funding to front line services has been capped since 2002 — my party regularly calls for that cap to be lifted. What possible basis was there for capping funding to the domestic violence sector during an era of successive budget surpluses? Was there evidence that domestic violence was no longer an issue? Clearly not. Was there evidence that services were meeting the demand? No. It was an unjustifiable decision on the part of this Government and while I welcome the €4.5 million for 2007, more money is needed. Budgets must be guaranteed to develop front line services in future.

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