Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

The loss of the life of a young woman, Ashling Murphy, has been met with a sense of shock, outrage and an outpouring of support and sympathy on a national level. So it should be. It appears that Ashling Murphy was killed in a random act of violence by a possibly deranged individual. I want to express my solidarity and sympathy with the family, her partner and the community.

I also want to raise the specific issues, even though I have only two minutes, of an attack three weeks ago on a young woman in Ballyfermot, in my constituency of Dublin South-Central. This young woman was the victim of vicious assault by a group of young men. This was no random act. It was premeditated, planned and followed years of verbal abuse and harassment by this gang of thugs in the area. She was travelling by bus from Liffey Valley to Ballyfermot, where it was reported that she was subjected to abuse by a man who was known to her and who was also on the bus. It appears that he then called his so-called mates, who then waited for the bus while armed with sticks, bars and knives. This man joined the group of men where they beat her up badly. As a consequence of the vicious assault that followed, this woman may lose the sight in her right eye.

Two individuals who have been arrested for this outrage have been released on bail and are free now in the community. A number of questions have to be raised. Why did this young woman and her family not report the years of abuse and harassment to the Garda? Maybe they did, but the consequences ended up on 30 December 2021. The answer to me is simple. People do not think that these issues will be taken seriously by the Garda. This issue needs to be addressed. We have reports of 3,000 cancelled calls to An Garda Síochána in relation to domestic violence during the lockdown. We need to change this culture. People should feel confident in reporting abuse and harassment and should feel confident that it will be taken seriously and dealt with. Changing the culture in An Garda Síochána is crucial in that.

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