Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to Deputy Costello if I put him off his train of thought. His contribution was well made. I am just finished an online call with Safe Ireland. Speaking to groups in my constituency, such as West Cork Women Against Violence, has very much underlined for me and painted a picture of some of the horrible, horrific and terrible experiences women in particular have gone through. This has been exacerbated over the course of this pandemic, but it is something that has existed for a long time and continues to be a huge societal issue.

The ask of these representative groups is very simple, namely, that we put domestic violence right at the very centre of Government policy. Their ask is simple and straightforward and they do not mince words. They want domestic violence and how it is dealt with by the Government to be taken out of Tusla, which at the end of the day is a child and family body, and instead to have its own place within Government and within a Department. I echo that call today because it is vital if we are serious about dealing with this. By doing that, we can stop the silence, the stigma and the shame that is associated with domestic violence, which is vital going forward. We can create an atmosphere where groups like West Cork Women Against Violence can excel in terms of the services they provide to women who find themselves in these horrific situations through no fault of their own. I reiterate that call today from Safe Ireland.

There has been discussion in regard to the recent revelations about Garda calls and, again, the ask of these representative bodies is very simple. At the moment, the training received by gardaí in terms of responding to domestic violence call-outs, which make up a large proportion of their work and their call-outs, is completely inadequate.

Training needs to be increased in Templemore from the start of their training and to be updated and developed so that An Garda Síochána is in a position to deal with all incidents of domestic violence, gender-based violence and sexual violence. Another example of how this violence towards women is going online is the story of a brave young woman in my constituency who experienced online sexual violence against her where an Instagram account purporting to be her, using her image and profile, was set up with explicit images. You can imagine the horrific experience that young woman went through when that happened to her. She made the point that the gardaí were not equipped to deal with that situation. They need to be. That can only be done with intense training to deal with those situations.

I refer to the lack of accommodation, especially emergency accommodation. The West Cork Women Against Violence Project funded its own safehouse to cater for one family. We need to look at this. We cannot have a situation where women who have these horrific experiences are put into accommodation such as bed and breakfast accommodation where they may be surrounded by more men. You can imagine what a traumatic experience that would be after having been through a domestic violence situation. That needs to be addressed. It can be addressed by implementing and, most importantly, funding the recommendations that I hope will be in the Tusla accommodation review. If we can put domestic violence at the centre of Government policy, then we can, as a nation, be at the forefront of responding to domestic violence.

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