Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Cuan Álainn women's shelter is a secondary housing centre for women and children escaping from domestic violence. It gives women and children up to six months to live in safety and assists them in moving to permanent housing. It was set up by Respond! three and a half years ago when it saw a need for the service through its work as a housing agency. The service has been used by 71 women and families, 68 of whom have found new homes since. At the beginning of October, seven women and 16 children were in the centre. Over the last year, Respond! has approached Tusla for funding as it does not have the money to keep the service going. The service is very important. I note the experience of a mother of three from County Meath, who I will call Louise, although that is not her real name. Louise left a 19-year abusive relationship in February of last year. She says:

He used to fight with me a lot, grab me and punch me, elbow me and kick me. He called me names and put me down.

She says she stayed with him because she wanted the children to have a family. After a beating in February, she called the Garda Síochána and left with her children to stay first with her sister and then at a refuge in Meath. She then moved to a refuge in Dublin, but after two months her time there was up. She then got a place in Cuan Álainn. She says she realised when she got there that she had been depressed for years, and the centre got her psychiatric help at Pieta House. She says:

I am not in a state yet to be on my own. If this place was not here, I would have had to have gone back to him.

The important point she makes is that she had to go into emergency accommodation or she would have lost her children due to homelessness.

When I asked the Minister a question on this subject on 22 September, he said he would meet Respond!, look at all avenues and services and see if something could be done. He said it was a very important service. The Minister has been busy doing public events about ending violence against women while we have been waiting for a decision. A meeting took place between the Minister and Respond! on 2 November, which is three and a half weeks ago. I started submitting Topical Issue Matters on 5 November and have done so every day since then because I knew we would have to move on this quickly and wanted to hear the Minister's response. Unfortunately, I have heard that the staff have been told that they have notice to quit on 15 January 2016, and everybody is being moved out of the centre at the moment. I think there is one family and one single woman in the centre. I would like to hear from the Minister why he has come to a decision not to fund this vital service. It has been mentioned to him before that we should be opening more of these services because of the important role they have played in assisting women and children in leaving emergency accommodation and going to a safe place before moving on to permanent housing. The Minister has said himself that it is an important place and service for these families.

If the Minister says the centre is going to be closed, I will be very disappointed. Has the Minister even negotiated with Respond! about that body paying wages while Tusla and the Government pays to keep the service open? It is particularly important to keep the service open given the current level of homelessness and the number of children in emergency accommodation in hotels and hostels.

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