Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure what happened. I apologise to the Minister of State, Deputy Madigan, for that.

It is really important that we discuss this topic today. Tackling domestic, sexual and gender-based violence has been a priority of mine. Since I was first elected to Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, I have repeatedly pressed for an increase in the number of refuge places and the establishment of a dedicated facility in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. As a State and society, we must do more to support people, mainly women and children but also men, who are subject to domestic violence. I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence as a priority.

During the pandemic, we saw an increase in domestic violence. It continues to be a pervasive problem in our society. Unfortunately, figures for 2020 show that the Garda received more than 43,000 calls to respond to domestic abuse incidents, representing a 16% increase on the figure for 2019. Nearly 15% of women between the ages of 18 and 74 have experienced some form of physical and sexual violence in their lifetimes and nearly 31% have experienced psychological violence.

In May, the Department of Justice launched a public consultation process in partnership with Safe Ireland, which coincidentally is having a talk as we speak, and the National Women's Council of Ireland to inform the development of a new strategy, the third, to combat the problem. This strategy will emphasise prevention and reduction and is to be agreed by the Government by the end of this year. This is welcome and necessary. The new strategy must be supported with resources that provide practical measures to make it easier for victims to report crimes, access justice and protect their families. We need all agencies to step up. Reference was made earlier to the inappropriate cancellation of 999 calls. I welcome the Garda Commissioner's statement and apology for that. The cross-government budget to tackle domestic and sexual violence must be increased in 2022 to ensure bodies such as the Garda and Tusla and NGOs such as Safe Ireland, Woman's Aid and Men's Aid Ireland have sufficient resources.

The provision of emergency accommodation to allow people to exit abusive relationships is critical, particularly given the issues concerning the general shortage of housing, with which we are all familiar. I understand Tusla is finalising a review of emergency accommodation nationwide. I hope this review will result in a joined-up policy. For far too long, we have seen refuges fall through the bureaucratic cracks.

As I mentioned, from 2009 I, first as a member of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, and others have been pushing for a refuge in the south-east of Dublin but, unfortunately, owing to the stance of both the council and Tusla — it was the HSE at the time — it has never taken hold. This is not good enough and it must change. Women and men and their children all across Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and the rest of the country deserve better. We need a single lead agency to take responsibility for planning, funding and the construction of the family refuges.

We also need to see practical measures to support victims, including paid leave to attend court, faster access to housing support and generous allowances from community welfare officers to offer support in meeting day-to-day needs as victims break free from abusive relationships.

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