Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her reply. There has been no increase in the number of spaces available in recent years. On 22 February 2018, the Minister told the House that Ireland was exceeding the recommendations for the minimum refuge provision for domestic violence spaces, because there were 155 family units comprising 147 emergency refuge family units and eight emergency non-refuge family units. She based this on the fact that she claimed that the Council of Europe recommend one place per 10,000 women. In fact, the Council of Europe recommends that provision be set at one place or family place per 7,500 to 10,000 members of the population. On that basis, it would appear that our domestic violence refuge spaces are 70% less than the recommended amount. To reach these European guidelines, we would in fact need 331 more spaces. Does the Minister accept these figures and will we see any significant increase in capacity over the coming years?

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