Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Last December, with my party leader, Deputy McDonald, I was proud to introduce the Organisation of Working Time (Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2019. Today, we can progress this issue much further. I strongly believe we must advance this much further. Therefore, I very much welcome Deputy O'Reilly and Deputy McDonald's Bill.

Covid-19 has cruelly exposed the issue of domestic abuse as a real problem that needs addressing. Domestic violence is a problem that has always been with us. It is not a problem for one socioeconomic group or ethnicity. It affects many people across our society.

Safe Ireland issued a report in November regarding domestic violence in Covid times. It showed that 1,970 women and 411 children were receiving help from a domestic violence service each month during the period of March to August. The same report indicated that there was a 25% increase in calls to the service's helpline when measured against 2018.

The first lockdown was hard for all of us, but imagine being trapped in a home without reprieve with somebody who is violent towards the person? All the services in Limerick tell me that domestic abuse has increased exponentially during Covid-19. As of November this year, there were 273 reports of domestic violence in Limerick, of which 80% of the victims were women.

In 2016, the figure for the whole year stood at 213 incidents.

The provision of statutory entitlement to paid leave is an acknowledgement by legislators of the challenges faced by workers in trying to escape an abusive relationship. If we are to end this epidemic of violence, we need a whole-of-society response that both supports and protects victims. The Bill, which I am glad the Government proposes to support, will allow for time off from work in order that victims can get the support they need, find alternative accommodation if they have nowhere to stay and attend court appointments. The challenges facing victims are massive when the violence they experience takes place in their own home and they have the additional pressures of worrying about attending work while trying to pursue all that is necessary to remove themselves from an unsafe environment. This Bill will add to existing work-based rights and give victims time to seek the support they need in the confidence that their employment is secure.

Coercive control, as recognised under the Domestic Violence Act 2018, can lead to abusers focusing their efforts on a partner's workplace for the purpose of ending his or her employment. I have met people in that situation. Legislators and employers have a responsibility to respond to this avenue of abuse by putting in place the necessary workplace and employment rights and protections for victims. I very much welcome the Bill and commend it to the Dáil.

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