Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for arranging these statements. I acknowledge the ADAPT Kerry Women’s Refuge and Support Services, which offer crisis accommodation for women and their children who experience domestic violence and offer outreach supports to women seeking help. I also acknowledge the Kerry Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre and its excellent workers, who have unfortunately had to deal with this problem for years.

I am acutely aware that the problem seems to have worsened since the Covid-19 pandemic, with the level of domestic violence having increased significantly since 2020. There have been a number of widely publicised violent attacks on women, but there have also been attacks on women and children that have not made it into the media. Sadly, they are silent victims of awful attacks. For everyone, the home is a place of safety, and women expect themselves and their children to be safe there. We touched on this matter during the debate on the Labour Party’s motion.

The Minister and her Department are leading a number of whole-of-government strategies to tackle domestic violence and I know that she is working diligently in that regard, for which I thank her. It is terribly important work. If the work that she, her Department and the Government are doing, supported by Deputies on the Opposition benches like ourselves, results in people being helped and protected, then it will have been a good day’s work.

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