Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

One of the main reasons many women do not leave an abusive relationship is the shortage of available and affordable accommodation that could rehouse a victim of domestic abuse at short notice. According to the Council of Europe, it is recommended that there be one refuge place per 100,000 people, which means there should be 446 places in Ireland. Currently, there are 137, which is ten less than four years ago. We signed up to the Istanbul Convention. Why sign up to a convention if we are not going to implement it?

In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, there is no refuge place and there has not been one historically. I welcome that the issue is being addressed and I am hopeful that progress will be made in the very near future. I recognise the tremendous work that Tearmann does in the two counties. There are only two or three members of staff employed in that service and they do a lot of outreach work.

According to Safe Ireland, 808 requests for refuge could not be met last year. As we know, the nature of an abuser is to isolate the victim from family and support. Victims go to a refuge seeking support because they do not have anywhere else to go. I shudder to think where such victims find support or what they have to do as a result. Perhaps they have to go back to the violent perpetrator.

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