Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise what many people see as an important issue. I hope the Minister of State will share that view. We were all absolutely shocked when we heard last Tuesday on the airwaves what women were facing in 2011 with regard to access to refuge. The position has worsened.

There has been a 42% increase in the number of women contacting domestic violence services in the past three years, and the recession has much to do with this because of pressure being put on families because of a loss of jobs, unemployment and little money coming into households. There is also the stress in paying bills. Some 7,235 women received support in 2010, up 5,000 since 2007. Some 3,900 people, including 2,355 children, lived in refuges in 2010. However, the scandalous aspect of this is that on 3,236 occasions women could not be accommodated due to lack of space. Everybody thought this problem was in the past and that the issue of women and children accessing refuge and protection had been dealt with.

Currently, there are 141 refuge places, a third of the minimum standard recommended by the Council of Europe. This is scandalous. According to the Council of Europe recommendation, the north west should have 24 family unit places but it only has two. In the east region, which covers Dublin, it is recommended that there be 150 family unit places, but there are only 39. Research shows, and the Minister will be aware of this from her own experience, that the most dangerous time for these women is when they attempt to leave an abusive and violent relationship. Being turned away from a refuge due to lack of space places these women and their children in an extremely dangerous situation. A total of 38% of the women who sought refuge said they had nowhere else to go.

It is the most vulnerable people who feel the cost of the banker and developer bailout. Since 2008, SAFE Ireland has reported cuts in funding ranging from 5% to 30% in the north-east region. These are not feasibility cuts but cuts to the service. In the Leinster area, services which provide 80% of services nationally were contacted by the HSE and were given two weeks notice of a 10% cut. There must be an urgent response by the Minister. Every day thousands of cases are being reported. At a minimum the refuge in Kildare that is ready to get up and running should be opened as a priority. Violent assaults, rape and abuse of children, including of the unborn through violent attacks on pregnant women, as has been reported by SAFE Ireland, are taking place in families and behind closed doors. There must be an urgent response.

The Government must commit to signing the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence without delay. Ireland is one of a small number of countries that have not signed the convention, which was adopted by the Council of Europe on 11 May 2011. The second step the Government must take is signing that convention to show the women, children and everybody in this country that it means business and will turn around the situation that has existed for the past three years.

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