Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Ellis on introducing this Bill. As we have heard today, domestic violence is a country wide problem. One often hears the old saying, "when poverty comes in the door, love goes out the window." Over the last seven or eight years, people have been subjected to what I would call silent violence. People were made unemployed, left with massive mortgages and mistreated by the banks. Some people might go to a pub at certain times and cause major problems when they return home. As someone with a family member who had a problem with drink, I realise that when we look for help, everything is loaded against us. We have gone so perfect in this world that the system is loaded against whoever is trying to do good for somebody. If someone wants to try to go in every day to help him or herself, that is taken away. If we do not change some systems and face up to some realities, this will continue.

Families are in distress because of mortgages. Judges have to apply a certain amount of commonsense in this regard. I have seen cases where barring orders were applied in respect of houses located a few hundred metres of each other, which had the effect of denying an alternative to social housing. The distance required under the barring order meant that one of the houses owned by the same family was left empty.

We speak about solving these problems but then we see cuts to funding for organisations like Roscommon Women's Network. It is estimated that a person goes back to the same house seven times. I can understand that because, when one is trying to keep the kids together in a hostel, one might ask whether it is better to be at home. I acknowledge that the budget announcement included funding for social housing. I have been contacted by several directors of services who are trying to put in place procedures in order to be ready for next year. The sad reality is that nobody is there to make the decisions. I have seen people from outside the country buying several properties and now we are trying to buy them back. I have also seen housing agencies and councils bidding on the same NAMA property. Joined up thinking needs to take place. Over the past several months, some good people have lined up land and properties but there is nobody at the top to give direction to these people. If we are to reach our targets for social housing next year and in 2016, we have to build the foundations first.

See this speech in context