Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Women's Aid released devastating figures last week showing nearly 32,000 contacts to its regional or national services last year. Behind each contact is a woman, who often has children, living in unimaginable conditions. State investment in new safe accommodation and refuges is too low, as is the funding of services. Implementation of the third national strategy is also too low and too slow. A whole-of-government approach is needed and that should be led by the Taoiseach.

Services in my constituency are at breaking point. We saw a 9% increase in domestic violence calls to the Garda in Cork last year. Even more women should be able to escape these situations, but cannot because the services they need are not there. Groups like Cuanlee Refuge and Mná Feasa in Cork do Trojan work. I recently had to direct a lady to them for support. The support they gave her was huge. This was a very vulnerable lady. They have accompanied her to court and have given her support and a safety net. However, these services are operating on budgets that are far too low. Last year I met with Cuanlee along with Deputies Martin Kenny and Ó Laoghaire. We heard stories of women and families being forced to go to other shelters because it was full. There is no place for larger families to go to. There is often no place for women fleeing domestic violence to go to. The crisis in domestic violence is compounded by the crisis in homelessness and housing. The best thing we can do is for the Government to lend the groups the support they need.

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