Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have been watching the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill and want to compliment all of the hard work that has gone into it in the Seanad.

I am here to echo the voice of the child, as I have already done earlier this morning during the statements on homelessness. I welcome the eligibility for safety and protection orders and the out of hours barring order included in it. Much domestic violence happens when court services are not working.

A new offence of corrosive control is also established under this Bill at section 40. Deputy Butler spoke very well about corrosive control. I came across this for the first time in my own clinic this week. A woman with three young children, living in rural Ireland, was being controlled via the lift to town or the lift to bring the kids to school. The way this man was controlling her was by allowing her to bring the kids to school in the morning, but if she wanted to get into town she had to be there for half seven. He would not share the frying pan or the toaster so she had to go and feed the children in a local restaurant. In the evening he would give her a lift home and would then allow her to use the fire for only one hour. Herself and her three children sleep in one bedroom. This debate is not about the housing crisis, but because of it she feels trapped. We do not have enough places available in organisations such as COPE, which is doing fantastic work in Galway, and so this lady feels trapped. Some people do not realise that what they are experiencing is corrosive control. When this lady speaks to people in the family resource centres from now on she will now have entitlement rights under section 40. This will help her and many other people to understand what they are entitled to.

I commend all the people who have put an awful lot of hard work into getting the Bill to this stage. I would love to see its speedy movement through the remaining stages.

Barnardos believes that this Bill should be strengthened further. The Minister sought suggestions earlier. One of Barnardos' suggestions is that child safety needs are assessed and addressed when granting a barring order. Another suggestion was on removing the property tests for cohabitants applying for a barring order where the best interests of the child so requires and extending the duration of the emergency barring orders to a maximum of six months. The roll-out of contact centres across the country and the removal of fees to access legal aid were the other suggestions from Barnardos. It has made some good suggestions which might be taken on board as the Bill progresses.

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