Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tackling violence in domestic situations can be difficult for local gardaí. It helps when the local garda has some knowledge of a person. This is why we must encourage gardaí to settle into our communities and become involved in the area. A worrying recent development has seen Ireland being placed on a watchlist by the US Government due to failure to combat human trafficking. The trafficking in persons, TIP, report 2021 confirms that for the second year running, Ireland will remain on a watchlist due to its inadequate response in tackling the problem. Ireland has been placed on this watchlist by the US Government for failing to combat human trafficking as migrant women continue to be brought to Ireland and forced into the sex trade. This is a dreadful reflection of the lack of urgency shown by this Government to deal with this issue, despite being aware of the situation.

Domestic abuse victims can be women and men. One in seven domestic abuse calls is from men. The other six are from women, which is six too many. We must encourage men to make the calls themselves because they have had a mental block on doing it over the years. Domestic violence against women must be stamped out and the law must be adhered to. Strong sentences must be forthcoming for those who carry out this kind of sick crime. Gardaí come in for much criticism here. They deal with this daily. We always look at the negatives. No one is prepared to look at the positives when the gardaí work on this. As I said, local gardaí are important and should be acknowledged for the work they do on this, because it is a difficult situation. Somebody mentioned that very few think of the children. The children need to be thought about. It does not just affect the man or the woman but the children in the family too. It is a sad reflection on society to think that during the pandemic, there was a 43% increase in domestic violence, mainly against women.

I thank the gardaí for doing such good work in this area over the years. Mistakes have been made but those who have not made mistakes have made nothing. I have often heard that. The letter of the law must be adhered to and the gardaí are the only ones who can make sure that is done. I take the opportunity to acknowledge the retirement of a local garda, Martin Hegarty, in Castletownbere. I thank him on behalf the people of Beara and west Cork, where he has spent the last 30 years. He is a prime example of what community policing is all about. On behalf of the people of west Cork and Beara, I wish him the best and a long retirement. I hope that we will tackle the issue of domestic violence. Whether it is against males or females, it needs to be at the forefront of political agendas.

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