Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. I have not stood opposite the Minister on this side of the House for some time. This is an important debate. Some issue will always be debated at the tail end of a session. The small number of Deputies present says more about those who are not here than those who are.

It is frightening to note that one in five women will be abused by an intimate partner in her lifetime. I did not realise the figure was so high until I researched the issue. We are discussing this issue as a result of the concern expressed by the report of the Garda Inspectorate which detailed particular problems with attitudes towards domestic violence in the force. It found, for example, that some complaints about domestic violence were treated as a waste of time and some members of the force displayed negative attitudes towards domestic violence incidents by referring to calls as problematic, time consuming and a waste of resources. The Chief Inspector of the Garda Síochána stated:

The whole issue of domestic violence needs to be thoroughly reviewed. We had about 11,000 domestic violence incidents and there were only 287 cases where somebody got arrested.

This is a matter of grave concern which must be quickly addressed.

One of the reasons for the low number of arrests for domestic violence is the insufficient level of training provided to gardaí. I acknowledge that many good members of the Garda do an excellent job. However, it is worrying that the Garda domestic violence training programme has been axed for new Garda recruits as a result of a lack of funding from the Department. The programme provided previously in the Garda College in Templemore was run by people who deal with rape victims on an ongoing basis. The forthcoming programme was ended owing to a lack of funding. The Minister must reintroduce the programme if we are to be serious about tackling domestic abuse.

The Minister expressed a willingness to sign the Istanbul Convention. It is worth noting that the convention establishes a framework for governments to ensure robust action to prevent, investigate, prosecute and ultimately eliminate violence against women and girls. Unfortunately, violence will never be eliminated. I ask the Minister to forgive my unparliamentary language but as long as we have evil bastards in the world, there will be domestic abuse. We must ensure sufficient resources are in place to deal with it and this requires ring-fenced budgets.

I decided to speak in this debate because of cuts to a service in Longford which has supported 1,500 women who were subjected domestic abuse since 2005. In 2013, it assisted 248 women and had supported 242 women this year to the end of October. These figures are scandalous in a county the size of Longford. The previous and current Governments implemented serious cuts to funding for domestic violence services. For example, HSE and Tusla funding for domestic violence services has been cut by 17%, while funding for the Commission for the Support of Victims of Crime's domestic court accompaniment service has been reduced by 26%. Family Support Agency funding for counselling services has also been reduced by 47%. This is not good enough. If we are honest about addressing this issue, we must protect and sustain these services.

I ask the Minister to give a commitment to look into the figures I have given today and ensure this service is supported into the future.

We also need to look at a cross-departmental approach. I have recently been dealing with a situation in which a woman had to leave her family home because of domestic violence. However, because of housing legislation, she was unable to apply for local authority housing and, therefore, was unable to receive rent allowance. The only places that woman could go to get away from a domestic partner were into a refuge or a hostel. We need to look at this in a more holistic way and we need to give it much greater time than we are giving it this evening. That said, I welcome the opportunity to contribute, albeit in a small way.

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