Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Monday saw the entry into force of the Istanbul Convention or the Council of Europe convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. That is very welcome and somewhat overdue. In order to meet the State's obligations, legislation must come into force in a number of areas, in particular legislation concerning efficient and proper data collection and the reporting mechanism, which are necessary changes to protect victims and children. The final one is access to specific and specialist support services.

Currently, Ireland has only one third of the number of domestic violence refuges-----

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