James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge and appreciate all the work being done in this area. I recognise in particular the work done by the Minister, along with my colleague, Senator Chambers, and others, in regard to the provisions on stalking and other advances that have been made in recent times.

I raise this issue as a male who has many significant female others, not least my daughters and wife. One of my daughters was at an event last night and, unfortunately, a shudder went through me from the involuntary fear one has that something might happen. It is hard to get away from that. It is important that we have all the preventative measures, precautions and mitigations in place. Domestic violence is often spoken about. I welcome the increase in the number of DPSUs and the other measures that have been taken. However, it needs to go beyond that, into the streets, the public domain and the wider sphere. It is important that we invest in this area.

We are all very aware of what happened to Ashling Murphy and the awful vista that was thrust upon us at the start of this year. Unfortunately, such deaths have happened too often. A societal shift, rather than any particular departmental shift, is required. We must do all we can collectively to address the issues.

See this speech in context