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

I am delighted to have the opportunity to directly ask the Minister about the domestic violence strategy following on from the Women's Aid report yesterday. Only two weeks ago, a report that was commissioned through the work of Councillor Hazel de Nortúin in Cherry Orchard was published on the domestic violence strategy for that area. The place was packed and there was a huge amount of interest in it. This is an issue right across society. There is huge concern when we see the alarming rise in disclosures to Women's Aid, the highest in its 50-year history. In 2023, another nine women died in violent circumstances in this country. There is an urgency about it. I heard the Minister here and in Cherry Orchard argue that she was going to make this the key priority of her term as Minister but we still have nine counties without a refuge, we are still far short of the Istanbul Convention recommendation and we are still seeing a rise in domestic violence that is off the Richter scale. In the remaining bit of the term that the Minister has left before there is a general election, what can she commit to really doing? I do not mean just throwing money at it but opening up spaces for the safety of women in particular.

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