Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The situation of domestic abuse calls to the Garda being ignored is a major scandal. It is not a scandal that should be ended with an apology and a promise to do better. In just one shocking case a woman phoned 999 three times in one hour begging for help for her and her children. In her first call she reported she was being assaulted, in her second call she explained her partner was threatening her children, and when she did not hear back she phoned a third time to plead for help. All three calls were ignored; she and her kids were abandoned. We know now she was one of 3,000 emergency domestic abuse callers who were ignored by the Garda. The apology from the head of the Garda, Commissioner Drew Harris, is simply not good enough, especially considering the fact the Garda can find the time and the resources, for example, to break up the picket line of the Debenhams workers or, incredibly, to pursue and prosecute an activist for ROSA, Aislinn O'Keeffe, precisely for the crime of organising a protest against gender-based violence during the pandemic. However, women looking for protection from abuse are ignored. This means we are not dealing with just a few bad apples here. This is systematic and despicable. What is exposed by this situation is, on the one hand, the unfortunate and horrific prevalence of gender-based violence within our society and, on the other, a failure to take it seriously in a systematic way by a patriarchal and sexist capitalist state and its various actors.

I will share with the House some figures to indicate both sides of this. People have probably seen the figures but they are worth noting. They show the scale of the so-called pandemic within a pandemic of gender-based violence. Women's Aid received more than 30,000 disclosures of abuse in 2020, a 43% increase on the figure for 2019. Of those disclosures, almost 6,000 involved a child victim. Women's Aid described this huge number of contacts as the tip of the iceberg. On the other side of this, Women's Aid CEO, Sarah Benson, claimed the current family law system is repeatedly failing those who need help and in some cases is a tool for the abusers to continue to torment their partners even after they leave them. There is also the completely inadequate number of women's refuges. That is the situation facing people.

I will make particular reference to one area. My colleague, Deputy Boyd Barrett, met with the group FairPlé, which campaigns for gender equality within the arts. It has raised the issue that there is a significant number of cases of harassment and abuse within the industry. We have seen this being exposed worldwide. We know that artists, women in particular, can be vulnerable in this sector because of the precarious nature of employment in the sector and because of the power, authority and control that can be held by those at the top. FairPlé is demanding that all public funding should be linked to appropriate representation and the establishment of an independent body that people could go to to complain.

There are many other issues I could raise but my time is up. It is not just words we need from the Government; we need funding and action.

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