Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate which is timely given the week that is in it, with the highlighting of the issue by Women's Aid and the powerful symbol we saw outside Leinster House yesterday when a large number of women - 78, about whom we know - who had lost their lives as a result of domestic violence since 1996 were remembered. On drilling down further and following discussion one finds that some of the many people who turn up at the constituency clinics of politicians with housing issues are present because of domestic violence.

They might have an interest in the property and very often it is difficult for them to go on the housing waiting list. There is a very big difference between having an interest in the family home and being able to live in it. That is the reality for some people. Very often, it is not in the crisis situation they present, it is post-crisis where they have gone back and decided to plan their exit. It is mostly but not always women. The experience is that, on average, they leave seven times before they finally make their exit.

There is a fantastically run shelter in south Kildare, Teach Tearmainn. It is a modern facility that was built with funding from the HSE. It partially opened a couple of years after it was built when two of the four apartments were made available. The rest of the building cannot be opened due to a shortage of funds, yet there are queues of women and children who require the facility. There are 210,000 people in Kildare. It is the fourth most populated county in the country. I would have thought a modest building of that size could have been funded. There is pressure on it from people who are homeless. People have to be turned away because the facility must be maintained for the purpose for which it was designed and built. I could not speak more highly of the people who run it and operate the outreach service to which, unfortunately, I frequently have to direct people.

On listening to the speech of the Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, I wondered what Ireland he is living in. He is certainly not living in my Ireland. The rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and the housing assistance payment, HAP, are not on the spectrum in my constituency or in the cities of Dublin or Cork. No private rented accommodation is available. The Minister of State said victims of domestic violence who seek emergency accommodation from a housing authority are generally placed in temporary accommodation which the council itself arranges or which is operated by a voluntary service provider. I do not recognise that situation. I am aware of people who have no home to go to, who sit in housing departments all day long, every day, just trying to get to talk to someone. That includes people who are trying to extricate themselves from a situation of domestic violence. A total of 90,000 are on housing waiting lists around the country. The prospect of someone going on a housing list now and getting a house in the next five to eight years is zero. That is certainly the case in my area. A total of 45,000 of the 90,000 people on housing waiting lists in the country are located in six local authority areas. I do not recognise the scenario outlined by the Minister of State.

I wish to refer to the Garda Inspectorate report and the attitude to domestic violence, which was hugely disappointing. It should not matter where someone is assaulted or who assaults them; it is an assault. We must change the culture. I know gardaí who are hugely compassionate, caring and capable, but if the attitude in the law enforcement services portrayed in the report is true, we have a major problem.

The services provided in this country cannot be separated from the amount of money that is available. I note the troika is in town. We can only provide services if we have the money to do it. That is a central point in terms of the running down of our services and for the 700 children who are sleeping in hotels who do not have a home. It is also a central point for people who are on waiting lists, the fact that we have the second highest class sizes in Europe, and for those in poverty. The ECB can break its own rules yet is surprised when the water charges in this country prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. It is about all of those things – the highest class sizes, domestic violence, the availability of housing and about money being sucked out of people’s pockets. The ECB broke its own rules by flooding cheap money into European banks when they went belly up, then it permitted us to write IOUs, again breaking its own rules. Now, the only thing that seems to matter is that the ECB gets its money back. It does not matter how the country is run down.

The Lisbon treaty contains a charter of fundamental rights, which includes housing as a fundamental right. I think it is in section 35. When it comes to a competition of rights, it appears the ECB wins the competition hands down. The Minister of State must wake up and look at what is happening around the country. The scenario he outlined for the response to domestic violence might be how things are in his constituency but it is not how they are in mine. I cannot comprehend the notion that only two of the four apartments in Teach Tearmainn are open while there is such demand. People who are at risk are being turned away. The only extra person who has been employed in the housing department of the local authority in my area in recent years has been the security man on the door. The situation there is out of control. Everyone who turns up is in crisis. People who are subject to domestic violence are in that queue. They are not protected by the local authority because it has nothing to give them. I am concerned about section 10 funding. If it is to be transferred to Tusla, one must ask whether it is to continue to be a dedicated homeless fund or whether additional funds are needed to make sure people are safe in their homes. I include men, women and children but it is mostly women and children who are affected.

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