Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

What I find fascinating is that this debate marking International Women's Day is taking place in a Parliament that, for me and most people here, is dominated by a decision taken yesterday by Government to basically tell women that it will split their head and give them a plaster. Yesterday, we lifted the eviction ban and today we say "Solidarity with sisters on International Women's Day." Those on the other side of the House have no idea of the sort of misery, fear, stress and pain that decision has created for thousands of women.

Housing is a feminist issue but it is not the only challenge women in this country face. There is a great deal of unfinished business and women should no longer have to wait. As one of our colleagues just mentioned, the reduction of domestic leave pay is another stain on the record of this Government and another indication of splitting the head and giving a plaster. We still have restricted access to abortion and far fewer rights to abortion than we fought for in the repeal campaign. Only nine out of 19 hospitals offer full abortion services. The rest do not. The post-repeal legislation requires that people seeking abortion go through a three-day waiting period. This is insulting and causes unnecessary delay and stress. Abortion is still a criminal offence carrying a sentence of up to 14 years. There is a 12-week limit on access to abortion and a 28-day limit with regard to a doctor's decision to carry out an abortion based on the fatal foetal anomaly clause. This has meant that, since the legislation was introduced post repeal, more than 700 women have had to travel to access abortion care. We in People Before Profit have brought a Bill before the House, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023. There has been an unacceptable delay in the production of the review of the legislation, which the Act requires to have taken place within three years. Our Bill would address all of those issues.

One year after the murder of Ashling Murphy, the worst year for femicide in this country, we are still no closer to meeting our targets for refuge spaces under the Istanbul Convention, which requires us to have 512 spaces. Shockingly, in 2021, 62% of requests for refuge were turned down because there were no spaces. Ireland needs to treble the number of refuge spaces and campaigns across the country have attempted to push this Government to do so. For example, our councillor in Carlow, Adrienne Wallace, has been campaigning for a refuge in that county, which is one of nine counties without any refuge spaces. At a council meeting last November, she was told that designs are in planning and are progressing. However, in the response to a recent parliamentary question, Deputy Paul Murphy was told by the Minister for Justice that only 24 refuge places would be provided in 2024, they have all been delayed and none of them will be in any of the nine counties that do not currently have a refuge, which include Carlow. Despite public commitments given by Deputy McEntee in 2022, Carlow will not have any refuge spaces and Councillor Wallace and her pals will have to take to the streets again. In my constituency, Councillor Hazel De Nortúin-----

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