Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will use my remaining time to underline the seriousness of the situation in west Cork. I outlined the statistics earlier. There were 48 cases of sexual assault and rape in 2019, increasing to 70 in 2020 and to 105 in 2021. There is a serious issue there and there is a serious lack of services in the west Cork area. It was mentioned as one of the regions where refuges should be provided in the future. It is paramount that we provide a refuge there to offer proper services. Women who have been through the most traumatic of experiences have to drive for two or two and a half hours to services in Cork city. That is a dark and bleak drive. In some instances, women who do not have cars have to use public transport. They have to arrange babysitting. It is a nightmare. The very least we can do is to provide proper, adequate services for women who have been through situations they should never have gone through in the first place. I ask the Minister to take a personal interest in reaching out to the West Cork Women Against Violence Project, which is a fantastic advocacy group that has all the blueprints done for what a refuge should look like. I would appreciate it if the Minister would reach out to its representatives.

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