Richard O'Donoghue (Limerick County, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the work the Minister has been doing and the commitments she has given on domestic violence and refuges for women who have suffered domestic violence. At Christmas, I visited ADAPT House in Limerick. My office staff and I go around during the Christmas season trying to help people in various areas – not only women who have suffered domestic violence, but also their children – so that they can have some normality at Christmas. We try to do that every year. I am thankful to my office staff for how they co-ordinate that with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other agencies that help people.

At ADAPT House, I saw that an area it had been using for interviews had been turned into a room for families because it was caught for space. The staff had moved equipment from a storage area and put families in there because the house was under such pressure to help them. The staff went above and beyond in that regard and I have the utmost respect for what they do. They are amazing.

Domestic violence is usually perpetrated against women, but it also affects children, as they are being moved out of their family homes and understand why that is happening. It turns their worlds upside down. The children in ADAPT House still have to be dropped off at and collected from school. Everything has to be monitored to ensure their protection as well as their mothers’.

There are very few ADAPT centres outside city areas. Rural areas should have them as well so that people do not have to leave their own areas for cities. There should be ADAPT centres within the wider counties. Will the Minister consider putting ADAPT centres in place in areas between cities where there is a trend – I hate to say it this way – of abuse so that we can keep people within their own areas?

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