Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister will know, this is my third time speaking on this subject. I do so with a sense of utter frustration. I have said that. I will try to use my time positively. I have heard many statements to the effect that this is a watershed moment, that a light has been shone on the issue and that we know now. We have known for a very long time. On the last occasion, I had two minutes. I have a few extra today.

I will refer to the report of the task force chaired by the former Deputy, Eithne Fitzgerald, which was issued in 1997. It states:

The Task Force’s aim is to ensure women experiencing violence can have real options, that when they disclose what is happening they are listened to and believed, that public services are in a position to offer practical help and an assurance of safety. Women and children who have lived with violence need counselling and support

Interestingly, it also states:

Working with women and children only addresses one side of the problem. Programmes for violent men that confront violent behaviour must be developed and expanded. A society where women are not

regarded as equals, or which sees violence as a legitimate way of resolving conflict, is one where violence to women can flourish. Work with young people has an important role to play in preventing violence and abuse in a new generation.

That was written in 1997 following the first refuges having been set up 20 years previously and following the work of the organisations on the ground, particularly Women's Aid. We are now waiting for the third national strategy, which was promised before Christmas. We are also waiting on Tusla. I would really like the Minister to tell me tonight what the delay in publishing the completed report is. I understand it has been with the Government for a very long time. It has certainly been with Tusla for a very long time. I have repeatedly said that I believe in the Minister's bona fides. I respect what she is doing but why are we still saying that it will be published soon? The Taoiseach said so this morning. It is unacceptable to say that any more. Will it be published tomorrow? If not, why not? What has it shown up?

With regard to our knowledge about violence, you can pick any time. I have picked 1997. I could have picked the case of Sophia McColgan, subject of a book by Susan McKay that was published in 1998. I could have picked the case of Kelly Fitzgerald or the Roscommon case. I could have picked the Kilkenny incest case, a report on which was published by Catherine McGuinness SC, who subsequently became a Supreme Court justice. What jumped off the page in that report, which was published in 1993, was that it stated that the level of violence in that family was not atypical, or words to that effect. It was not unusual for the area.

In every single year of every single decade, we were fully aware of the extent of violence, not just domestic violence but also violence outside of the home. Everybody is hurt and diminished by that, as is our economy, the consequences of domestic violence having cost it €2.2 billion at a conservative estimate. Nobody who has been subjected to that level of abuse, particularly a woman, can participate as an active citizen in a democratic society. It simply cannot be done.

I am beyond statements. I am using my few minutes to say that I will work with the Minister. There are practical actions to be taken. The Minister should publish the Tusla report. She should make that most basic accommodation, which is necessary, available and she should make it multifunctional for the future.

I have heard a lot of talk about education. I do not know what the Department has done with regard to the Manuela Riedo programme. It was run on a pilot basis and evaluated in Galway. The pilot programme was run by the Galway Rape Crisis Centre along with Tusla and other rape crisis services. It is exactly what Deputies are asking for. The Minister should mainstream it. She should meet the people involved and mainstream the programme if she considers it right to do so. I do. I have read it. There has been a report and an assessment on it. Is the Minister aware of it? Manuela Riedo was a beautiful young girl. All of the women who were murdered were beautiful. That murder happened in 2007. It was never to happen again. The rape crisis centre in Galway and a number of others throughout the country worked closely with Tusla and the Manuela Riedo Foundation to make sure that change would be brought about. It has not happened even though the pilot project was extremely successful, if that is the right word. It probably is not when talking about such horrific violence. However, the result of that pilot programme was very positive.

Last year, the Citizens' Assembly reported and wrote to every single Deputy in the Dáil to point to its recommendations but those recommendations have been ignored. Again, they related to dealing with the perpetrator as well. What is interesting about that is that we in this Dáil, of which I was part, were so out of touch with the Citizens' Assembly when it was set up that domestic, sexual and gender-based violence was not included in the terms of reference. Can the Minister imagine that? It was not even included. The assembly and its chairperson, Dr. Catherine Day, had the sense to change those terms of reference or to at least interpret them differently. I am over time. Gabh mo leithscéal.

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