Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I have never struggled so much, as someone not in this House too long, to put words together to speak tonight because it is simply difficult to find the words. This day last week, all of us, as an entire nation, were brought to a stop. A young woman with her whole life in front of her, with hopes and with dreams, had her life stolen from her in broad daylight along a very popular walking route. A popular walking route in broad daylight was a fairly safe choice to make, you would think. Ashling Murphy; another woman killed by a man. As has been said repeatedly in this House, and cannot be said enough, 244 women have been violently murdered in Ireland since 1996. These were women who were loved, women who were part of families and part of communities and women whose children had to grow up without them. Their lives mattered yet these women, year after year, were murdered and it is still happening. That tells us everything done up to now has not worked. It is not enough just to remember these women, we must instead act and act right now.

Much has been put forward here this evening, in the form of reports, policy, data and legislation. All of it is important but moving forward we must have accountability for every single action we now put forward on tackling gender-based violence. Every month we should have statements in this House outlining the progress being made to achieve zero tolerance of violence against women. We need to show progress, see progress and see the practical steps that are being taken. The public needs to see that too and we must start now.

In my two short years of being a TD, I have come across a number of instances of violence against women that have highlighted many issues to me. In two instances, they showed me the reality faced by women who come forward; the women who actually seek help and seek a way out of violence at the hands of a man in their lives. These were domestic violence situations that showed me first-hand the very difficulty women face in fleeing the family home and seeking alternative accommodation. First, there is no refuge because Roscommon is one of nine counties with no refuge spaces for women. In all of Roscommon, Galway and Mayo there are just 14 refuge spaces for women and children. The three counties have a population of over 228,000 women. Based on the Istanbul Convention, Roscommon Safe Link has told us there should be 46 spaces for Mayo, Roscommon and Galway and as I said there are just 14. In many situations of domestic violence, there is not an opportunity to ring your local TD, maybe to go and meet them or to ring others and reach out. There may be just one chance for a woman to reach out. That is why it is so vital those supports and services are there and they need to be there in an instant. If they are not there, then we have failed. I read through what SAFE Ireland sent us, namely, the 808 requests for refuge it referenced receiving between September and December 2020 that it could not meet because there was no space. I wonder where these 808 people are now. I cannot imagine what it must be like to be in a domestic violence situation where you have no family, no refuge and you are trying to secure private rented accommodation, for we know the difficulties of that in itself. I welcome the permanent extension of rent supplement for survivors of domestic abuse. It is important, welcome and needed but we need to do so much more. I was also contacted by a woman last year whose case of rape and sexual abuse went to trial. However, once the trial was over, all State support vanished. Those are her words. She told me that while the man convicted and sent to prison could access support, a care plan and psychological support she could access nothing. She was told of an 18-month waiting list for post-trauma psychological support.

They were just two women I have engaged with in the last year alone. There are so many more. There are so many more women suffering, so many women living in fear and too many women whose lives were cut short and too many times the State has come up short. To conclude, I hope we can work together. I hope that as women we in particular can work together to make the changes that are so desperately needed and lead the way on this once and for all.

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