Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As Teachta Dála for Cavan-Monaghan I pay tribute to a past pupil of mine, Ms Sonia Lee, and her family, for the strength they have shown not just in recent weeks but in the past two years since Sonia endured an horrific attack by her former partner that left her with life-changing injuries. I wish her well in future.

The unprecedented levels of gender-based violence is a global problem that transcends all borders, age groups and socio-economic groupings. It causes untold heartache and hardship for families from all walks of life. In Ireland, the mental, physical and sexual abuse endured by women cannot be overstated, and it is truly shocking. Conservative estimates indicate that at least one in three women will encounter violence at some stage in their lives from a current or former partner while one in seven will endure severe or life-threatening abuse. On this small island we have the second-highest number of women in the European Union who avoid places or situations for fear of being targeted for assault. Since 1996 up to the end of last year, 230 women had been killed in Ireland as a result of domestic abuse, which is an average of ten per year. Most were killed in their own homes and 30% of the women who experienced domestic violence were physically assaulted for the first time during pregnancy.

These are frightening statistics and they illustrate the extent of the violence directed towards women in a supposedly civilised society. It is an intolerable position and it cannot be allowed to continue.

To tackle this worsening problem, an inter-agency cross-departmental approach is needed to assist victims and survivors of domestic abuse. It requires closer co-operation between Departments, including the Departments of Justice and Equality, Employment Affairs and Social Protection, and Health. We need resources and personnel to act in a collaborative manner to better protect women from abusive partners.

One of the main reasons many women do not leave an abusive relationship is the shortage of available and affordable accommodation that could rehouse victims of abuse at short notice. According to the Council of Europe, it is recommended there should be one refuge place per 100,000 people, meaning there should be 446 refuge places in Ireland. In reality there are only 143 places, which is simply not good enough. This must be addressed as a matter of priority by the next Government. Otherwise the number of women who suffer domestic abuse will continue to rise.

It should also be noted that not everybody fleeing an abusive situation requires a refuge, but they need options to live free from a violent partner.

Housing is the key requirement that needs to be made available to those fleeing domestic abuse. One in four women becomes homeless as a result of domestic abuse. In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, there is a severe lack of emergency accommodation available to at-risk women. This large rural constituency does not have a single refuge and there are only three staff employed to assist vulnerable women across the two counties. Undoubtedly, it is one of the worst funded areas for domestic violence supports and is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue. As far back as 20 years ago, there was a site and adequate funding secured to provide a refuge but the support services were not made available. The Department of Health failed to provide enough staff to ensure the supports were in place to help vulnerable women.

In an effort to address that dire situation, Monaghan County Council indicated a willingness to provide five houses in the county as part of a Part V development in housing estates but again the proposal failed to materialise because support funding from the HSE was not forthcoming. It beggars belief that in a supposedly modern, progressive society, women whose lives may be at risk from serious violence have no safe haven to turn to in either Cavan or Monaghan.

Ireland signed up to the Istanbul Convention a year ago. It now needs to fully implement the recommendations to which it committed itself.

Responsibility for overseeing supports should be left with the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence. I understand it is possible that the services will be regionalised. If that is true, and I hope it is not, that would be a regressive step because not every county is properly supported by the services within their region.

On a more positive note, I wish to commend members of the Garda on their response in dealing with reports of abuse in the home and the way they have dealt with breaches of court orders during the Covid-19 restrictions. Similarly, I wish to acknowledge how the courts have dealt expediently with court orders during the lockdown, which has greatly exacerbated the crisis in domestic violence.

I have a number of questions for the Minister on this issue to which I hope he will provide answers. First, will there be a review of sentencing in cases of non-fatal domestic abuse because I believe the sentencing is not reflective of the seriousness of the crime? Second, are there plans to set up a domestic homicide review mechanism with powers to make and monitor recommendations on the response to domestic violence? Third, are there plans to appoint a Minister or to form an Oireachtas group with responsibility for bringing together representatives of the relevant authorities - the Garda, the Courts Service, Tusla, local authorities, the HSE, the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and the specialist domestic violence services - to ensure a multi-agency approach is taken to deal with this issue? That is something I would strenuously advocate as being absolutely necessary if the Government, and this House, are serious about addressing the issue of domestic violence and the plight of women whose lives are being placed at serious risk on a daily basis. I also call for the restoration of pay and conditions for domestic violence services staff who play a vital role in helping people who find themselves in abusive relationships.

I wish to point out that the media coverage of some of these cases in the past has left a lot to be desired. There have been times when fatal acts of domestic violence have been described as tragedies. A tragedy implies to me an unfortunate incident that could have been avoided such as an accident. Death as a result of domestic violence is plain murder and should be called such. Otherwise, we run the risk of normalising the sickening abuse of women when they are targeted by their violent and often unrepentant partners.

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